(a) Retail service establishments within the city of Palo Alto shall provide or make available to a customer only reusable bags or recyclable paper checkout bags for the purpose of carrying away goods or other materials from the point of sale, subject to the terms of this chapter.
i. Single-use plastic bags exempt from the chapter include those integral to the packaging of the product, product bags, newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste or yard waste bags.
ii. Food service establishments within retail stores must comply with those requirements listed under Section 5.35.020(b) below.
iii. Effective January 1, 2020, farmers markets shall only provide Compostable Produce Bags to hold produce, meats, bulk food or other food items. Single-use Plastic Checkout Bags, Produce Bags or Product Bags shall not be provided by farmers markets for produce or meats.
(b) Effective November 1, 2013, food service establishments shall provide or make available to a customer only recyclable paper checkout bags or reusable bags, at their discretion, for the purpose of carrying away goods or other materials from the point of sale, subject to the terms of this chapter.
i. Produce or product bags without handles may be used at food service establishments to hold containers of food items that are free liquids such as soups or stews that might be susceptible to spilling.
(c) The city of Palo Alto encourages, but does not require in-store public education and encouragement to customers about the use of reusable bags. In-store education for retail service establishments and food service establishments is available at www.cityofpaloalto.org/plastics.
(d) Nothing in this chapter prohibits customers from using bags of any type that they bring to the establishment themselves or from carrying away goods that are not placed in a bag at point of sale, in lieu of using bags provided by the establishment.
(e) A retail service or food service establishment may provide a reusable bag at no charge if it is distributed as part of an infrequent and limited time promotion. Infrequent and limited time promotions shall not exceed a total of 14 days in any consecutive 12 month period.
(Ord. 5473 § 2 (part), 2019: Ord. 5194 § 3 (part), 2013)