Another anti-plastic bag bill is making its way through the Legislature – but this one holds far more garbage than its 13 predecessors — all of which I have been writing about since 2007.
SB 270 would ban recyclable plastic retail shopping bags and allow supermarkets and grocers to charge a minimum of 10 cents each for paper and thicker plastic bags.
The bill, by Senators Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles Alex Padilla, D- Pacoima, and Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles, “prohibits stores from distributing lightweight, single-use plastic bags.”
I’ve never met a single-use plastic bag; they are 100 percent reusable and recyclable. Nine out of 10 people report reusing plastic bags at least once, according to Bag the Ban.
SB 270 puts the cost on the grocery-shopping public under the guise of environmentalism, and threatens to annihilate plastic bag manufacturers, which provide thousands of very good jobs to California workers.
But more insulting is the farcical purpose of the bill: If this bill were actually about the environment, the bag fees would be expected to go to funding recycling or litter prevention initiatives.
The bill would require larger chain grocery stores to establish an in-store recycling program, which includes:
- a label encouraging customers to return the bag to the store for recycling,
- recycling bins for plastic bags,
- a record-keeping plan for at least three years and must make the records available to the local jurisdiction or the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) upon request;
- make available reusable bags to customers.
SB 270 also requires plastic bag manufacturers to develop educational materials to encourage reducing and recycling of plastic carryout bags and make those materials available to stores.
And, as expected, SB 270 authorizes a city, county, or the state to levy fines to the supermarkets “in violation of this law.”
Previous bills seeking to ban plastic bags would also have forced customers to pay a 10-cent fee for paper bags or buy “reusable” shopping bags. Grocery stores agreed to this proposal because they would have been able to keep the entire 10-cent fee, to pocket or pay for any inconvenience or disruption to their operations.
Heavier plastic bag – better for the environment?
SB 270 bans the recyclable plastic bags and replace them with heavier plastic bags, five times thicker. It is unclear in this legislation how a significantly thicker plastic bag is better for the environment.
This is faux environmentalism, and it hurts one of the few remaining manufacturing industries left in the state.
Big lies about plastic bags
Plastic bags are not made of imported oil; they are made of ethane, which is a waste product extracted from domestically produced natural gas. If the ethane is not used to make plastic, it would need to be burned off, which would produce greenhouse gases. Plastic bags are an excellent use of a waste product.
Reusable bags have a dirty little secret of their own
When the fabric-feeling, sturdy and reusable plastic shopping bags entered the picture supposedly to conserve paper and plastic, environmentally conscientious shoppers thought that using the sturdy, reusable plastic bags sold by stores for groceries would be the answer.
They are only now realizing that their low-carbon footprint bag is also filled with nasty bacteria if not washed regularly. A microbiological study found unacceptably high levels of bacterial yeast, mold and fecal bacteria counts reside in the reusable bags (nastysack.com).
The study found that 64 percent of the reusable bags tested were contaminated with some level of bacteria, and close to 30 percent had elevated bacterial counts higher than what’s considered safe for drinking water. Further, 40 percent of the bags had yeast or mold, and some of the bags had an unacceptable presence of fecal intestinal bacteria when there should have been zero.
Good for business? Which business?
The bill claims it will prevent job losses at plastic bag factories by providing $2 million dollars in loans or grant money to “re-tool” operations, and “re-train” workers to make the thicker, more expensive plastic bags.
$2 million dollars is a drop in the bucket to large manufacturing operations, and will do little or nothing to protect the plastic bag industry from this strange business change. This part of the bill was clearly written by people unfamiliar with business operations.
Teleconference by bag alliance
The American Progressive Bag Alliance held a teleconference Tuesday to warn about this bill. APBA Executive Director Lee Califf explained proponents of SB 270 say the purpose is environmentalism, and to stop litter, and protect marine life. “Plastic bags are less than one percent of the litter in the U.S. and in California,” said Califf. “This legislation would have a negative impact.”
On the teleconference call was Steve Schmidt with Edelman Public Affairs. Schmidt warned of the peril of the thousands of manufacturing jobs because of SB 270. “Trade associations donate millions, and get billions in return,” Schmidt said. He warned of the lack of transparency surrounding this bill, under the guise of faux environmentalism, “is terrible public policy.”
“Flimsy, single-use bags”
De León sent out a press release yesterday following the teleconference. “This measure will institute a ban on flimsy, single-use plastic bags beginning in 2015 for grocery store carry-out bags and create a mandatory minimum ten cent fee for recycled paper, reusable plastic and compostable bags,” the press release said.
“This plastic bag ban is a win-win for the environment and for California manufacturing,” said de Leόn. “This landmark legislation will protect the health of the planet while preserving jobs in California. Right now, the state Legislature needs to remain focused on California jobs, not jobs in North Carolina.”
There will be a hearing today in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
Take a look at the list of supporters — it’s enlightening:
All One Ocean
Black Surfers
Collective California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Coastal Coalition
California Coastkeeper
California League of Conservation Voters
California Retailers Association
Californians Against Waste
ChicoEco, Inc.
City of Clayton
City of Concord
City of Los Angeles
City of Palm Desert
City of Sacramento
City of San Jose
City of San Rafael
Clean Oceans Competition
Clean Water Action
Command Packaging
Contra Costa Clean Water Program
Costa Mesa Sanitary District
County of San Mateo
County of Santa Barbara
County of Santa Clara
Don’t Waste LA
Environment California
Five Gyres Institute
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Global Green USA
Green Cities California
Green Vets Los Angeles
Green Waste Recovery
Heal The Bay
Hidden Resources
Latino Coalition for a California Bag Ban
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
Napa Recycling and Waste Services
Napa Valley CanDo
Natural Resources Defense Council
Ocean Project
Pacoima Beautiful
Planning and Conservation League Plastic
Free Seas
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Plastic Soup Foundation
Plasticbaglaws.org
Republic Services
Reusable Bag Association
Sachamama
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Seventh Generation Advisors
Sierra Club California
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Suja Lowenthal, Councilmember, City of Long Beach
Surfrider Foundation
Sustainable Coastlines
Hawaii Target
Wildcoast
World Society for the Protection of Animals
Zero Waste San Diego 11,345 individuals (petition)