 and welcome to Restaurants Hawai'i here on Think Tech Hawai'i. I am your host, Cheryl Matsuoka, the Executive Director of the Hawai'i Restaurant Association. Twice a month, we discuss important and timely topics centered around our Hawai'i food service industry. Today, we have a very timely topic. As most of our viewers know, the City and County of Honolulu, September 5 ends the last extension of the disposable food wear ordinance, which is fondly called DFWO, which regulates the use of polystyrene foam containers, disposable plastic service wear, and disposable plastic straws. So today, we have two guests, and I'd like to first have them introduce themselves. Hey, Henry, can you please introduce yourself? Tell them your title and a little bit about yourself. No, my title is, first of all, my name is Henry Gabriel. I'm with the City and County of Honolulu with the Refuse Division. I'm the Recycling Program Branch Chief. And basically, my role in the disposable food wear ordinance or the DFWO is to enforce. And I have a staff that will enforce the DFWO come starting September 6. Thank you, Henry. So Ray, could you please introduce yourself, your title, and a little bit about yourself? Yeah, I'm Ray Amino Roscoe. I work for Triple F Distributing, Vice President of Sales and Product Development. Then we're looking forward to going forward with this bill, finally, Bill 40, because we do have product available, and we want to get it out to the consumers as soon as possible. Thank you, Ray. So let's start with Henry. Come on, Henry. Let's hear about it, because I have been getting so many calls. And like I mentioned earlier, the same questions over and over. I'm hoping that by sending out this recording, it's going to eliminate some of those calls that you and I are getting. So tell us a little bit about it. You and I were just talking about it. I said, Henry, has it been two years that we've been going through this? And you're like, yes, Cheryl. So why don't you tell us a little bit about the DFWO? Thank you for having me on this. This is timely, very timely. The disposal of foodware ordinance actually passed into law December 15, 2019. And here we are two years, seven months later, and it's still not in full effect. But like Cheryl said, it has restrictions to single-use plastics, including polystyrene, disposal for plastic foodware, and service wear, and then also straws upon request. The industry exemption started March 3, 2022, and it will last for six months. So it does end come September 5, 2022. So during that time, that six-month period, what the reason being was to allow businesses enough time to order product, use up product. And from my understanding, one to three months is really the turnaround time for the past few months for people to obtain compliant products. And that's where we are right now. My hope is that the word is getting out there. We're moving forward with this, and there's distributors and throughout the local distributors that have compliant products available. Thank you, Henry. So Ray, what have you been hearing as a distributor? You're talking and meeting with all our restaurateurs out there. So what are you hearing? Well, I am hearing a lot of the restaurateurs are still a little bit confused about what products are available out there. I would suggest they really get with their salesperson that they have calling on them to go over the product line that's available to them. There's a lot of, I don't want to say loopholes in the bill, but it's just the wording is good for the restaurant tour. I don't think they really realize that. They made it very easy for Henry's group has made it very easy for a lot of things to be compliant, and it depends what you're doing in the industry. If you're over the counter service or whether it's stuff that is products that are merchandise, you can really use a lot of different products. I should say that. That would be the best thing to say. Thank you, Ray. So Henry, I have a few questions here that were sent in from our members. Before I go through that, why don't you go ahead and answer the most frequent questions you've been asked. The most frequent question that I've been asked is, will the industry exemption be extended? You're hearing it from me now, the guy who kind of oversees this entire thing. No, it's not going to be extended. We're looking at September 5th as the end date for the industry exemption, and then September 6th is when the law will be in full effect. There are some sections of the law that have been in effect, and that is the service where upon request and also the straws upon request, but the section that way we granted ENV, the Department of Environmental Services, granted for the food wear of polystyrene and the plastic food wear that will end come September 5th. So come September 6th, the law will be in full effect for the first time. But that is the number one question. Will it be extended? And the answer is no. Yes, that's the most frequent question I hear too. The other question is, which agency, Henry, will be enforcing and passing out citations? So the Department of Environmental Services, this is quite long, but the Department of Environmental Services, Refuse Division, Recycling Branch, and that is the branch that I oversee. We will be enforcing, we will continue the public education, and that's been our main goal throughout this whole time, is really to help businesses, to help food vendors and distributors understand the law. And like Raymond was mentioning, there's some gray areas and we still have to kind of go back, okay, how do we interpret this? How do we interpret that? But I highly recommend whether you're a distributor or a food vendor to call us. And if you don't mind, Cheryl, if I can give my number right now and all of that, okay. So this is my direct line, and I give this to everyone. So it's 808-768-3427. That is my direct line. And I really, please call me if you have any questions on this ordinance. The other thing that I'd like to mention is that we have a webpage, honolulu.gov backslashopala. And on that webpage, we have a DFWO page. It provides all the information that I'm talking about, or even the actual ordinance. We have public education that businesses can download and use. So the combination of being as transparent as I can, along with the educational material, should help transition to these compliant products. Thank you, Henry. And as I always tell you, Henry, we all are neighbors and we're all part of this community. We're family. So our partnership with the Hawaii Restaurant Association and you, Henry, your office has always been just like Ohana, right? And we appreciate all this time that you've been putting out there. It's been a long two years, you and I, and it's going to happen. And so that's why this timely conversation. The other question that I get most often, especially from the small mom and pops, is what is the citation going to be? Should they not be compliant, Henry? Okay. There is a fine involved with the DFWO, but I'd like to preface my response first by saying that we will continue to educate and help businesses no matter how big, no matter if you're a small mom and pop. That's one of the reasons why I try to give out my number, my direct line. That way, you know, whether you know, if you're a small business, you're not going through option this, option that you're calling me directly. And then I'll be able to hand you over to staff to then help you out. The first defense is $100, but it can go as high as $1,000. And just to kind of talk about the process of a fine. And you'll find this on our ENV admin rules. That's where it states all of it. But basically, what we would do is we would go out to a restaurant and we would, you know, see how, and what type of foodwares being service ware as well is being provided. And then if there's any questions, we would ask for documentation just to show that it is a compliant or an alternative product. If it's not, you know, we issue a notice of violation, which we would give the restaurant more time to correct the problem. Then we would ask, we would provide them with, you know, distributor information or who's your distributor, you may want to contact them. But if it isn't resolved, you know, through all of the communication that we have with the food vendors, with food vendor, then we issue a notice of order and an NOO. And that is when the fine would be issued. And the first part, the first offense is $100. And then if it's repeated, it can go as high as $1,000. But once again, we're not really looking out there. We know how difficult it is to, you know, to have a business in, especially now. So we're not looking out, we're not looking to find anybody. We're really just trying to help businesses comply with the ordinance. Thank you, Henry, because as you know, many of the restaurateurs have called me, especially the small mom pops and they're like, Cheryl, you know, we're still struggling financially. And, you know, we still haven't really dug ourselves out of that COVID hole. And, you know, this is going to now increase the cost. And as you mentioned, Ray, many of the smaller restaurants are afraid to raise their prices. They're afraid because they're going to lose customers. They're afraid that the customers will not come back once they start raising that plate lunch price or that dental price. Ray, do you have any comments on that? I just think that, you know, the product overall is the increase that's been coming anyway. And even on the things that are compliant now, you know, prices on, you know, shipping just has gone up tremendously because of price of oil. But the basis for product has just been escalating for the last two and a half years since COVID. So, I mean, if, so going to, going to a compliant route is overall is not that more expensive. In some cases, yeah, a couple items it is. But if you just raise your prices the minimal to cover the cost, you know, you'll be okay. You know, you should be okay. You know, I've been in industry forever. And, you know, we do have a, you know, a restaurant. So we are, you know, we've been, we've been been compliant for the last, because I've been forcing upon the restaurant, we've been compliant almost for the two years right now. So, just, you just have to know how to adjust your costs, you know, and then offer it like it says the cutlery that take out cutlery, the take out straws, just offer them don't don't automatically give to your customer. So you can save costs there. Very nice. Ray, that's the beauty of it. Ray is not only the vice president of a distributor, but he also in his life have a restaurant. So he not only understands what restaurant tours are going through it, he's living it. The other question that I have, and I don't know who to ask this question to is, you know, when I go to Costco and Sam's Club, I do see the small mom and pop still buying the containers that really are not still not going to be compliant from the Costco's and Sam's Club. So the question is, that came in from our members, why are they allowed to even sell it? So I'll take for stab at this. They are allowed. So any, any, you know, I'll try and be as ginger as I can in the response. Any company can still sell disposable plastic serviceware, disposable plastic foodware. It really depends on the use. So for instance, if there's an organization out there that is providing food to those in need and there is no purchase involved, you can use a non-compliant foodware, non-compliant serviceware. You can use a plastic plate or a plastic container and provide food. There's no purchase there. So in a situation like that, as a distributor, as Costco or Sam's, they can. It's just they would have to know that they're using it for that purpose. And I've been to several showrooms where they, you know, it's spelled out. It's like, okay, these are compliant products used for this purpose. These are non-compliant products used for this purpose. Now, when we go out and we do an inspection, let's say at Sam's or Costco, we will ask them, you know, for this purpose, are you aware that they're using it for business or are you aware that they're using it for, you know, a non-customer per the ordinance type of use? So it is still, you still can sell these types of products. My hope though is that once we start, it will be a slow transition. Once we transition over into the non-compliant, is it really worth providing the two types of products to the home owner? You know, Ray had mentioned about cost and everything like that. But now is it going to be a management decision to say, okay, do we need to carry both products or should we just carry the one compliant product? Because we know that will work and we don't have to worry about the headache. So okay, it's only for this use or for that use. So, but yeah, we're very, very involved in seeing the ways that businesses can sell those non-compliant products. Very good. So the other question that I did have come in was for catering. So is there any special guidelines for containers that are used in catering events? So for catered food, the foodware used at a catered event is exempt and that is spelled out in ordinance. However, your serviceware that you provide is not exempt. So the only thing in catered food, the exemption is for that foodware. Now, if you're going to provide foodware to the at the event, if you're going to provide serviceware, we would have to ask several questions to make sure that, okay, are you using non-compliant or compliant? Is it an event where you paid to go? We'd have to ask all these questions to really see if the serviceware or the foodware portion of it has to comply. But for the foodware itself, that you're providing the food at the event, that is exempt. Very, very good. Thank you so much for the detail explanation, Henry. Ray, do you have anything else you want to add in? Well, going back to the catering part of the business, what Henry and I discussed a couple of weeks ago was about the fundraisers. So if you're doing a fundraiser, you can use a non-compliant product because you're not charging the consumer at all. So it can be a plastic cup that is non-compliant because as long as there's no charge to it, I think this kind of people don't read the bill in that sense, you can use it. It's a compliant product. So sampling spoons also. So if somebody's doing samplings, that also can be used for on a regular basis. So that's where the great areas are, which is, I think like you said, as Henry, they call Henry up, he'll give you the details. And the more you talk to him, the more he's on both sides. He wants to be compliant. We all want to be compliant, but we also have to be aware of cost. And that's where the cost will be. Very good. Thank you, Ray. So Henry, do you have any final statements before we wrap up the show? Because we really appreciate your time here today. We will send out this video so that we hopefully reduce the amount of calls both you and I get when it gets closer to September 5th, right? It's funny that you say that because over the last maybe two weeks, we've been receiving a lot of calls and some exemption applications. Let me clarify about the exemption really quick. So the industry exemption that was granted by ENV and September 5th, that doesn't prohibit a vendor, a food vendor to apply for an exemption. And so there are exemptions that food vendors can apply for that's no alternative available. And these are, and really, like I mentioned, I gave you my number out, so please call because there are specifics in the exemption. So no alternative exemption, no alternative exemption, no alternative available is the one exemption. Significant hardship is number two. And then the industry exemption. But a lot of the first two that I mentioned is really specific to the use of the compliant product. It's not because of compliant or product availability. And I think that's where a lot of the food vendors are kind of mixed up in a way. But once again, when you apply for an exemption, you will, you will evaluate it and then we'll provide our, or not our recommendation, the department will then, you know, decide on which way to go with the application. So food vendors can, they can still apply for an exemption. If there's any questions, please call me or we do have a website to our email address businessrecycleathonolulu.gov is our is our website. Let me just double check that businessrecycleathonolulu.gov. Yes. And then our business line, if you have any questions that you don't want to call me, you can call 768-3200 extension six. So either way, you can call me or you can call those numbers or email and we will be gladly to help you to help all businesses out there. Thank you, Henry. You've made it so easy the process. All right, this question is for Ray. Ray, one of the questions that came in from our members, as you know in Hawaii, it's all about the plate lunches with gravy over everything. We've got soy sauce over everything. And so the containers are not withstanding all the liquids within that takeout container. What would you recommend, Ray? I would recommend, you know, that to use a piece of foil, you know, there's a piece of foil underneath the plate. No, so it is not going to leak into your car. There is some good alternatives on the portion cups so they can just put it on the side, sauce on the side. I think that's what people have to realize. You have to put a lot of sauces on the side now. So there's a paper container that's out there that's available through our distribution here and other distributors. And it works very well. I mean, it's not going to last seven hours or eight hours, but it does last by the time you get home to eat that meal. That's one of the recommendations. Just look at the alternatives. Ask your rep. Foil containers around foil containers just might switch to that. And put there's a foil board lid that you can use and just do it that way. But there's a little alternative. Don't always have to think that you have to use the big gas because the big gas will soak up your sauces. And then technology coming out eventually, there's so much technology coming out that we're seeing. It'll be better where there'll be more soluble products. Thank you. So right before we close, is there anything else that you would like to say as a closing remark? I would just talk to yourselves, people. Talk to them or, like I said, call Henry's office. We're here to help. They can call triple F if they want to. I'll try to walk them through it. And I have suggestions that product they might not be able to that they can use. So sometimes they're salespeople. Everybody gets confused about the bill. And if you can read it four or five different times, and you're not going to see the same thing, but just ask. I feel I'm pretty good about being an expert on it. And Henry is also here. And he's asked a lot of questions about even our product lines that we carry that's out there from the distributors. It's been a learning process for him. It's been a learning process for all of us, right guys? Like I said, Henry, before we jumped on the call, Henry, we've been in it for two years. Oh my God. So gentlemen, before I close the show, anything else? As I've been saying, we're here to support. We're here to provide help. Call me. And I'll do my best to end the staff. We will do our best to help any business out distributor or food vendor or industry. We also will come down to your facility and we'll look at how you do things. So we're just not a phone call away. We will make that effort to come and visit as well. Thank you. Thank you. Ray, anything else before I close the show? No, I'm good. Thank you. So again, viewers, if you're interested in learning more, and if you need to have any more information, contact us at info at HawaiiRestaurant.org. Again, Hawaii Restaurant Association is the voice of Hawaii's restaurants and food service industry. We'll see everyone in two weeks. Thank you. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and donate to us at think.kawaii.com. Mahalo.