Missouri Plastic Straw Local Preemption Rules

RSMo 260.283 broadly defines auxiliary containers to include items used to transport, package, or consume merchandise or food, which encompasses plastic straws, utensils, stirrers, and lids. As a result, Missouri cities and counties may not adopt straws-on-request ordinances, ban plastic straws outright, or impose fees on their use. Restaurants and other food vendors statewide may use plastic straws and accessory items without local interference. The 2015 statute predates the wave of straw-ban ordinances that swept other states starting around 2018, and Missouri's preemption blocked those proposals. State environmental policy remains the sole channel for any future regulation of single-use plastics.

Any local straw ban is void under state law. Restaurants, vendors, and consumers may seek invalidation and injunctive relief if a Missouri municipality attempts to enforce one.