Say no to single-use food and beverages.

In just a few days, the “Shanghai Municipal Regulations on the Management of Domestic Waste” will officially come into effect. According to the regulations, the Municipal Market Supervision Administration has clarified that, starting next month, catering service providers and food delivery services may no longer proactively provide consumers with disposable chopsticks, spoons, knives, and forks. So, how are citizens and businesses responding to this new regulation? And in the process of reducing the use of plastic tableware, why are these four small items considered the first step?

During lunchtime, many white-collar workers gather in front of the fast-food counters at convenience stores. A reporter from The New York Times bought a boxed meal, but the clerk didn't offer chopsticks spontaneously. However, at the reporter's request, the clerk quickly pulled a pair of chopsticks from under the table.

“If you buy a boxed meal, we’ll give you a boxed meal. But first, you’ve got to let us give you a pair of chopsticks—only then can we serve you. We have surveillance cameras, and if the supervisors catch us, they’ll be fined.”

At Starbucks, the self-service area no longer provides utensils, and the straws have been switched from plastic to paper—so you’ll need to ask staff for them. Staff members said that after July 1, salad utensils will also become more environmentally friendly: “After July 1, forks will no longer be provided.”

According to the "Shanghai Municipal Regulations on the Management of Domestic Waste," the Municipal Market Supervision Administration has released a catalog clearly stating that, starting next month, catering service providers and food delivery services will no longer proactively provide consumers with disposable chopsticks, spoons, knives, and forks. Violators will be ordered by the market supervision authorities to make corrections within a specified time limit and may even face fines. Many citizens have expressed understanding and support for this measure.

“I haven’t used up all the chopsticks in the dorm yet, so there’s a lot of waste,” said one resident. “Before, even if you ordered food without cutlery, they’d still bring it over—because they were worried customers might be unhappy or demand compensation. So that was actually pretty nice.” However, many people think this isn’t very convenient. “What if I buy boxed meals at Quan Jia Supermarket? Do I have to bring my own pair of chopsticks? It’s definitely inconvenient. After I buy something, I can’t just eat it right away—I have to prepare cutlery and everything else. It’s really annoying.” Many businesses say that unless explicitly stated otherwise, they’ll proactively provide cutlery to avoid future customer complaints.

“He’ll put out as many pairs of chopsticks as he wants,” the merchant said. “Later on, (the customer) ended up eating without any chopsticks or spoons. I think that’s a bit unreasonable.”

When you open a food-delivery platform, you’ll notice that consumers can choose the number of utensil servings when placing an order—but this is not a mandatory option. Even if they don’t specify, merchants will generally default to assigning the appropriate number of utensil servings based on the number of people in the order.

The businessman told the reporter, “Even if you don’t check the box, we’ll still send you tableware.” “By default, we’ll give you a meal bag containing chopsticks, a spoon, and napkins.”

Some residents pointed out that the number of disposable food containers generated by takeout and packaged foods far exceeds that of these four small items. So why does this regulation specifically target only the “four small items”? In response, experts explained that the “four small items” are relatively easy to replace and more readily accepted by residents, making them an ideal starting point for initially reducing waste at the source.

Zhang Yong, director of the Research Center for Circular Economy at Tongji University, said, “We should start with the easy tasks first and then gradually move on to the more challenging ones. Implementing the ‘four small actions’ is relatively straightforward. If you frequently bring your own chopsticks and spoons, the likelihood of doing so is relatively high. Bringing your own bowls or large containers, however, is more difficult.”

Some manufacturers of disposable tableware say that they currently offer disposable utensils made from eco-friendly materials, but the market hasn't embraced them quite yet. “Right now, sales aren’t very good,” one manufacturer says, “because even a single pair of chopsticks made from cornstarch costs more than 10 cents, and the price difference for a spoon is also over 10 cents. Together, they’re significantly more expensive.” Several food-delivery platforms have also indicated that they’re actively optimizing their systems and will soon introduce a “no-cutlery recommended” feature. After a user places an order, the platform will, by default, no longer provide cutlery. Users will receive a pop-up notification asking whether they need cutlery, and they’ll have to proactively confirm the number of pieces they require. Meanwhile, businesses that don’t provide cutlery will be subject to reward and penalty rules.

Song Zhe, Chief Food Safety Officer at Meituan Dianping, stated: “For restaurants and stores that fully meet users’ needs for no utensils, we will provide traffic support and employ proactive business measures to shift their mindset about utensils, thereby better promoting green development.”

Experts pointed out that reducing the “four small items” in dining and the “six small items” in hotels is, at its core, a gradual shift in the public’s existing consumption and lifestyle habits, creating favorable conditions for comprehensively promoting source reduction of various types of domestic waste in the future.

A professor from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University said, “This process itself is a mutual educational journey. Our public has begun to realize that we need to improve our consumption habits as much as possible—to reduce resource extraction and minimize waste. As we gradually develop good consumption habits, we’ll start managing fast-food containers more effectively.”

Some people worry that, in the most extreme scenario, even if businesses don't proactively offer single-use tableware, if consumers actively request it, then the so-called reduction in waste would become impossible. In response, experts point out that cultivating the public’s consumption habits and environmental awareness is a process that takes time. The harder it becomes to obtain single-use tableware, the greater the opportunity will be for the widespread adoption of recyclable, eco-friendly alternatives. Reducing waste at the source is a long-term battle with a daunting road ahead.