Tiburon Peninsula restaurants say they’re ready for single-use foodware ban

Lisa Lori of Belvedere gets a sandwich and french fries on Nov. 5 from Paulino Monterroso, owner of Salt & Pepper restaurant on Main Street Tiburon. Monterroso says he’s long switched to compostable containers and will be ready for the new foodware ordinance. (Nick Shorten Jr. / For The Ark)

Restaurants and food servicers around the Tiburon Peninsula say they’re prepared to comply with a new rule requiring them to ditch plastic utensils and other single-use foodware in favor of reusable products.

The new regulations take effect in Tiburon and unincorporated Marin, including Strawberry, on Nov. 10 and ban foodware that isn’t reusable or biodegradable, including bioplastics that can’t be processed at regional facilities. Restaurants must use natural-fiber compostable foodware certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute, and the only alternative they can use is aluminum.

Salt & Pepper restaurant owner Paulino Monterroso said he’s been using compostable take-out containers for years.

While Monterroso said he was still finalizing take-out cutlery that’s in compliance with the new rules, he expected to have those ready by Nov. 10.

“Salt & Pepper is prepared for the change,” Monterroso said in an interview conducted in Spanish. “We’ve already changed in the past, and we have been changing now.”

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