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San Diego County Plastic Laws Database

Ensuring the Success of Our State & Local Plastic Laws

The world of plastic pollution reduction laws is complicated. In addition to state-level legislation that applies everywhere in California, many cities have their own laws. Such is the case in San Diego County, where Surfrider has actively supported many city-level ordinances to restrict harmful single-use plastic products that pollute our waterways, poison our communities, and blight our neighborhoods. 

However, the substantial effort we invest in getting state and local plastic laws passed is only half the battle. Ensuring compliance is the other half. Because, let’s be honest, our hard-won plastic reduction laws are only effective when they’re observed. 

Over the years, we’ve witnessed and received plenty of messages about businesses and organizations failing to comply with either a state plastics law, a local one, or both. We also regularly receive questions about what those laws are. 

To provide clarity, we’ve prepared this detailed list of both state plastic laws and policies per city in San Diego County. And to encourage our communities to have a voice in ensuring these important laws are adhered to, we’ve also included the appropriate contact to report non-compliance in each city. 

If you stand with us in supporting laws that reduce the amount of harmful single-use plastics that flow into our environment, then please consider reporting non-compliance when you see it. We all have a stake in ensuring that our hard-won plastic laws are followed by everyone! 

     

    California Plastic Laws

    Statewide plastic laws apply statewide, with the exception of within federally-recognized tribal nations and U.S. federal lands. 

     

    San Diego County Plastic Laws

    A summary of local plastic laws for each city that has them. These laws only apply within each city's boundaries. 

     


Frequently Asked Questions

Reference the tabs below for answers to some of the most common questions we receive re: plastics, the laws that govern their use, and the terminology within those laws. We attempt to demystify what terms like reusable bag, recyclable, compostable, and biodegradable mean within the context of each plastic law we've outlined. 

 

 

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    Frequently Asked Questions & Additional Resources