RAMW Supports the District's Environmental Goals

Climate change is not an abstraction for the restaurant industry — it is a supply chain problem. Drought, extreme weather, and shifting growing conditions are already driving volatility in the cost and availability of produce, seafood, coffee, and other staples, and disruptions half a world away land on District menus within a season. Restaurants have a direct stake in getting climate policy right. RAMW and its members support the District's environmental goals, and operators across the city have already moved on their own — compostable packaging, waste reduction, energy-efficient equipment, responsible sourcing. But the difference between a policy that advances those goals and one that simply raises costs comes down to operational design: whether it accounts for thin margins, existing equipment, available technology, and realistic timelines.

A Proposed Bottle Deposit System in the District

DC Council is considering a bottle deposit system that would fundamentally alter how beverage containers are sold, distributed, and recycled. Under the Recycling Refund and Little Reduction Amendment Act (B26-0058), every eligible sealed beverage container sold in the District would carry a 10-cent refundable deposit beginning January 1, 2028. The program would apply to an estimated 617 million containers sold annually in DC. 

High Costs Raise Concerns

The recently revised bill includes a key protection: restaurants, bars, hotels, and small retailers with on-premises consumption or less than 2,000 square feet are exempt from serving as redemption locations. But that exemption only removes part of the operational burden, and none of the additional monetary cost. Exempt establishments would still pay the deposit and absorb distributor cost pass-through on every case of inventory they purchase, with little opportunity to recover those costs because containers consumer on-site ware rarely returned for a refund. 

An independent cost study by Elevated Insights Group puts real numbers behind that exposure: at least $57.6 million in startup costs and $38 million in annual operating costs, with a meaningful risk that the system’s stewardship organization responsible for running the program could become insolvent. Those costs would fall on distributors first before flowing through to wholesale prices paid by restaurants and, ultimately, consumers — adding pressure to an already challenging operating environment. 

How DC Council Could Make This System Better

RAMW is advocating for additional improvements to the bill before final passage. Those changes include:

• Allowing unclaimed deposits to remain in the system to offset program costs rather than diverting them elsewhere.
• Establishing sanitation and pest control standards for redemption sites in dense, mixed-use corridors.
• Preserving market access for small and specialty producers through simpler labeling requirements.
• Ensuring DC-based distributors are not penalized for shortfalls caused by out-of-District firms the city cannot easily compel to participate and comply.

Preserve Access to Natural Gas 

RAMW and its members share the District’s commitment to environmental sustainability, Many operators have already taken meaningful steps to minimize their impact — transitioning to compostable packaging, reducing waste, and adopting responsible practices throughout their operations. But the transition to cleaner energy must be grounded in current realities. 

Natural gas is the secret ingredient in every meal served in the District: 87% of full-service restaurants depend on it for cooking and heating; continuous hot water for handwashing, dishwashing, and sanitation requires it. There is no commercially viable substitute for gas-fired equipment in most restaurant kitchens today.

Restaurants operate on thin margins and cannot retrofit overnight. That is why RAMW welcomes incentives for energy-efficient equipment, but urges the District to exempt restaurants from natural gas restrictions and bans until viable, market-ready alternatives exist for commercial kitchen use. Sustainability goals and a functioning hospitality industry are not mutually exclusive, but getting there requires realistic timelines — not mandates that outpace the technology available.