One berry box, three California cities, two answers

Summary

A clear plastic clamshell, the kind berries come in, gets different answers in different California cities. Recology San Francisco's guide lists "Containers and clamshells" as accepted. Redding's recycling page lists "clear plastic clam shell containers" as not accepted. Santa Barbara lists "Clear plastic produce containers" among the things that cannot go in its recycling. SB 343 says the state's recyclability findings do not limit a local agency's existing discretion over what its program accepts. One clamshell maker's own product page calls its berry box "Recyclable - check locally, may not be recyclable in your area". Redding's own item search agrees with its list; San Francisco's hauler's item search had no clamshell entry in our searches; and we found no item search for Santa Barbara. Neither city that says no gives a reason for refusing the clamshell. A yes means the box is collected, not that it is recycled.

One box, three answers

Pick up a clear plastic berry box and ask where it goes. The answer depends on where you live.

In San Francisco, the answer is yes. The "What Goes Where" guide from Recology San Francisco lists "Containers and clamshells" among its acceptable recycling materials, under "Plastics (no liquids and food):". The page's own data gives a last-modified date of October 21, 2025, and the line was still there when we fetched the page again on October 21, 2026.

In Redding, a small city in the rural north of the state, the answer is no. The city's recycling page reads: "Not Accepted: plastic bags, film plastic, clear plastic clam shell containers ...". The only plastics it lists as accepted are "#1 and #2 bottles and jugs". The page shows no date; the same wording appears in an archived copy from June 4, 2026, and was unchanged when we fetched the page on October 21, 2026.

In Santa Barbara, on the Central Coast, the answer is also no. Under "What Cannot Go in the Recycling?" it lists "Plastic food containers," and beneath that, "Clear plastic produce containers". It accepts 'Plastic bottles and rigid plastics greater than 6"' but names produce containers as excluded and accepts no clamshell. That page was captured 2026-06-11 7:08 p.m. PT (Wayback 20260612020816), and its page data gives a last-modified date of June 8, 2026. Both were unchanged when we fetched the page on October 21, 2026.

By our reading, a berry box is both a clamshell and a clear plastic produce container, so it falls inside the wording of all three lists. So the same package is accepted in one city's recycling and refused in two others.

The pages do not say why

Neither Redding nor Santa Barbara explains its clamshell rule. Redding's page gives no reason for any of the items on its "Not Accepted" lists. Santa Barbara's page gives no reason for refusing yogurt cups, other plastic food containers or clear produce containers. We do not know why, and we are not going to guess.

Santa Barbara does give reasons for a few refusals, though not for clamshells. For foam, its trash list says: "[Polystyrene foam] (We are currently unable to recycle [polystyrene foam]. Although it may have a recycling symbol, there is currently not a viable market for this material.)". That reason is about foam, and we do not extend it to clamshells.

SB 343 keeps local discretion over what is collected

California's labeling law, SB 343, sets a statewide test for when a material counts as recyclable (see the explainer below). By our reading, that test does not tell any city what to collect. The law says the state's published information "shall not limit the discretion of a local agency under existing law to decide whether, and to what extent, a material type or form shall be accepted by a local recycling program".

The collection half of the test is met when programs for jurisdictions that "collectively encompass at least 60 percent of the population of the state" collect the material. By the statute's design, that leaves room for up to 40 percent of Californians to live in places whose programs do not collect a material that still passes the collection half. That is a ceiling, not an estimate; it counts whole jurisdictions, and it is only one part of the test.

On sorting, CalRecycle's June 2026 update to Table 2 of its SB 343 Final Findings Report counts PET Thermoformed Clamshells and Containers as sorted by surveyed facilities serving 34 of the 34 surveyed counties (100%), out of California's 58 counties. That measures sorting coverage, not a recycling rate, and it is not the statute's 60 percent test. Sorted is not recycled.

Not just three cities, but not a statewide count either

The three cities come from a hand-picked sample of 13 current California residential guides retrieved on October 16, 2026. For clamshells, by our count, 5 accept them, 3 exclude them (one a drop-off center), 4 do not mention them and 1 gives conflicting answers. That is a count of a hand-picked sample, not a rate.

What the maker says, and what the local program says

We tested one package, a PET berry clamshell, three ways in each city: what the maker says, what the local program's item search says, and what its published list says. We could not get a legible on-pack label for a retail berry clamshell. The store and grower photos we could reach show only the top label, with no recycling mark or claim on it, and none shows the base. So the first leg is what a maker says on its website, not what a pack says.

Pactiv Evergreen, which makes PET clamshells, says this on its product page for a "1 Lb. Strawberry PET Hinged Lid Container": "Recyclable - check locally, may not be recyclable in your area". That is the manufacturer's claim on its product page. We have not seen those words on a pack, and we do not know what, if anything, the packs on store shelves say about recycling.

The claim itself tells readers to "check locally" and says the box "may not be recyclable in your area". Locally, Recology San Francisco's guide lists clamshells as accepted; Redding's page lists them as not accepted, and Santa Barbara's lists clear plastic produce containers as not accepted. The Circular State is owned by EarthSort LLC, which makes a recycling guidance app.

We also used the cities' and haulers' own item searches. We queried the two we found, Redding's and Recology San Francisco's, on October 21, 2026, through the public data service each search page uses, not by typing into the page. Redding's is its Waste Wizard. Asked for "clamshell," it returns the entry 'Clear Plastic "Clam Shell" Containers', with the answer "Put this item in your gray cart for disposal". That matches the city's list.

San Francisco's hauler, Recology San Francisco, offers a WhatBin search. In seven searches, including "clamshell," "berry clamshell" and "produce container," we found no clamshell entry. The only general entry for plastic containers among the results is "Plastics #1-#7 (rigid plastics, containers, tubs, lids)," which says: "All rigid plastic containers can be recycled when clean and dry". Recology San Francisco's published guide lists "Containers and clamshells" as accepted.

We found no item-lookup tool on the City of Santa Barbara's or its hauler's websites. The city's "What Goes Where?" link leads to a page on special wastes such as batteries and electronics, which invites other questions by email: "Need to get rid of something that's not listed here? Email us at TrashAndRecycling@SantaBarbaraCA.gov." Its hauler's sorting guide for the city is a picture with no search. For a clamshell, the city's published list is the only answer we found from the city or its hauler.

Accepted in a blue bin means collected. It does not tell you whether the box becomes a new product. Neither answer tells you what happens after the truck leaves.

How SB 343 decides "recyclable"

California's SB 343 sets a two-part 60/60 test, alongside design and chemical rules, for when a package "is considered recyclable in the state." It must be collected by programs for jurisdictions that "collectively encompass at least 60 percent of the population of the state." It must be sorted by large-volume facilities that "collectively serve at least 60 percent of recycling programs statewide."

Sorted is not recycled. Local agencies keep "discretion" over what they accept.

CalRecycle says its June 2026 update makes no "determination of recyclability," that it "does not have enforcement authority" under SB 343, and that the rules turn on manufacture date, not sale date. It said in August 2025 that the grace period "ends on October 4, 2026."

On July 14, 2026, a federal court preliminarily enjoined the Attorney General, "and all those in privity or acting in concert" with him, "from enforcing SB 343 until further order of the Court." Preliminarily, it found challengers likely to win on free speech grounds, and on vagueness for four provisions; the 60/60 test was not challenged as vague. A free docket mirror, which can lag, showed no appeal or stay as of 12:58 p.m. PT October 22 (latest entry October 20).

Corrections

Correction, 2026-10-25: We said 3 guides in our sample name clamshells as excluded. Two list them as excluded: Redding names "clear plastic clam shell containers", and Santa Barbara names "Clear plastic produce containers", which by our reading include a berry box. The third, a drop-off center, does not name them; the only plastics on its list of free drop-off items are "Plastic #1 & #2 with container necks". We now say 3 exclude them; the count is unchanged.

Update, 2026-10-27: We moved our ownership disclosure from the summary into the article text. No facts changed.