Prohibition on Single Use Plastics in Lake County Operations

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Lake County has created an innovative approach to addressing plastic pollution through banning the purchase of single use plastics for food and food service in its operations. Over one calendar year, Lake County endeavored to discover how far a large entity could go in reducing its plastic waste. Vending operations, cafeteria and coffee services, and employee purchasing were all overhauled to eliminate, swap, or discourage single use plastics wherever reasonable. The results of those changes are expected to reduce plastic usage by approximately 1,000,000 items in 2023 compared to 2022. The nature of the policy establishes a baseline expectation through which impacts grow over time as more alternatives to single use plastics become available. Over time, utilizing more alternatives to single use plastics will decrease production of greenhouse gas emissions, reduce plastic waste pollution, and provide demonstration for other communities’ initiatives. Prohibitions on single use plastic purchasing is one tool for institutions to use in the ongoing efforts to create water, air, and soil justice.