Single-use plastic in Icelandic cafés: what is banned and what needs a charge

A guest orders a latte to go. You hand it over in a paper cup with a lid. In Iceland, that cup and that lid need a charge, and the charge has to show on the receipt. It is the most common finding when inspectors visit cafés and takeaways, and you set it up once on the POS.

The rules are in the act on hygiene and pollution control, lög 7/1998, not in the waste act. Umhverfis- og orkustofnun (UOS) inspects them. This guide is as of October 2026.

What is banned

Since 3 July 2021, it is not allowed to place these single-use plastic items on the market in Iceland (article 37 e):¹

• cutlery: forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks
• plates
• straws
• stirrers for drinks
• food containers, drink containers and cups made of expanded polystyrene (frauðplast), with their lids
• any product made of oxo-degradable plastic

Most cafés use wood, bamboo or paper for these items now. UOS found that wholesalers had largely replaced the banned items, and that old stock of straws and plastic cutlery is now mostly used up.⁴⁵

Bioplastic counts as plastic. UOS has said in its summaries that the rules apply whether the plastic is made from oil or from plants, and whether it is labelled biodegradable, recyclable or compostable.²³ The only exception in the law is natural polymers that have not been chemically modified.¹

What needs a charge on the receipt

Article 37 f has applied since the same date, 3 July 2021. It says that you may not hand over these single-use plastic items free of charge at the point of sale:¹

• cups and glasses for drinks, with their lids
• food containers, with or without a lid, for food that is ready to eat and that is normally eaten straight from the container, for example a takeaway box for a hot meal

Wrappers that are meant to be folded around food are not included.¹ The law then adds one short sentence: “Gjald skal vera sýnilegt á kassakvittun.” The charge must be visible on the receipt.¹

The law does not set an amount. You decide the price.

A paper cup counts too

The law defines a single-use plastic product as one made wholly or partly of plastic.¹ Most paper coffee cups and many paper food boxes have a thin plastic film inside to keep them dry. In 2022, UOS wrote that a paper cup with a very thin plastic film is still a single-use plastic product, and that the charge for it must show on the receipt.²

To avoid the charge, use containers that contain no plastic at all. UOS noted in 2025 that the range of food packaging without plastic has grown a lot.⁵ Ask your supplier for written confirmation that a product has no plastic film or coating.

Bags

Two older rules apply to bags:

• Since 1 September 2019, every carrier bag needs a charge that shows on the receipt, whatever the bag is made of (article 37 b). That includes paper bags.¹
• Since 1 January 2021, plastic carrier bags are banned at the point of sale (article 37 c).¹

A takeaway order in a paper bag therefore has two possible charges: one for the bag and one for each cup or box.

What the inspectors found

UOS inspects a small, random group of businesses each year.² The number of food outlets is small, so read these figures as examples, not as rates for the whole country.

The outlets included cafés, bakeries, ice cream shops, fast-food places, restaurants, cinemas and petrol station shops.²³⁴⁵ In 2025, UOS wrote that some outlets were reluctant to add the charge. Five cases were still open when UOS published the summary, and UOS planned enforcement action in four of them.⁵

UOS can fine a business that breaks the rules in article 37 e or 37 f. For a company, the fine can be from 25.000 kr. to 25.000.000 kr.¹ In the cases that UOS describes, the businesses got time to put things right.⁴

Set up the charge on the POS

The simplest setup is a separate line for each cup and each box. Here is an example receipt for a takeaway order. The prices are examples.

A few practical points:

• Make it automatic. Add the cup as a modifier on each takeaway drink, or as a separate takeaway item. Then the charge appears whoever is on the POS. In Resto’s menu setup, a modifier can do this.
• Eat-in stays free. A coffee in a real cup at the table needs no charge.
• Use the same setup everywhere you sell. If guests order takeaway on a kiosk or online, the cup and box lines should be there too.
• Show the name clearly. “Einnota bolli” or “Single-use cup” on the receipt makes the charge easy to see for the guest and for an inspector.
• Ask your accountant about VAT. Ask which VAT rate applies to the cup and container lines, so that your POS uses the right one.

Bottles and caps

Two more rules affect drinks, mostly through your suppliers:

• Since 1 July 2025, plastic caps and lids on drink containers of up to 3 litres must stay attached to the container (article 37 g). The rule applies to the products that are placed on the market, so the bottles you buy should already have them.¹
• Drinks in single-use cans, glass and plastic bottles carry a deposit (skilagjald) under lög 52/1989.⁶ Endurvinnslan pays the deposit back when the empties are returned.⁷