Home California Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags Introduced by Senator Padilla

Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags Introduced by Senator Padilla

by ECT

alex Padilla

State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) has found the support he needs to move forward Senate Bill 270 which was introduced Friday in Southern California. The bill would ban plastic single-use grocery bags in California at supermarkets, liquor stores and pharmacies by 2016.

Padilla tried similar legislation last year in SB 405 which fell three votes short, however, he made some changes and now appears to have the support needed to push this forward.  Senator Kevin de Leon and Richardo Lara both killed the bill last year, but now support the newest version after revisions were made.

On Friday, Senator Padilla, Senator Leon, and Senator Lara were on hand to introduce the reworked bill.

“We have a broad coalition of environmental, labor and industry groups who will be joining us for this major announcement regarding a statewide ban of single use plastic bags,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

Under the proposal, SB270 requires retailers to charge at least 10 cents for a reusable, paper or compostable bag. The bill also calls for using $2 million for loans and grants to keep people working and to convert companies to making reusable bags.

The reusable bags (“smart bag”) would need to be made up of at least 20 percent recycled material, and strong enough to be used more than 100 times. Over time, the bags would be increased to 40 percent recycled material.

This plastic bag ban is a win-win for the environment, for California manufacturing and for jobs,” said Senator De Leόn.  “We need to balance the health of the planet with the preservation of people’s livelihoods and recognize the economic conditions faced by businesses in California.  This compromise will bridge the gap and help move the economy forward into a green future.”

About 90 California cities ban plastic bags including Contra Costa County Cities El Cerrito, Pittsburg and Richmond.  The City of Brentwood postponed their discussion while the City of Oakley held a brief discussion on the idea but did not support moving an ordinance forward.

Specifically, Senate Bill 270 will:

  • Ramp up the use of recycled content for reusable plastic bags to promote recycling and California manufacturing.  In 2016, bags will be required to have 20 % recycled content and in 2020 be made of 40% recycled content.
  • Provide support for agriculture film recycling
  • Require large grocery store chains to take back used bags for continued recycling.
  • Require third party certification of reusable plastic bags to ensure compliance with bag standards which support California manufacturing.
  • Maintain existing local ordinances related to grocery bags.
  • Require large grocery store chains to take back used bags for continued recycling.

The press conference was also attended by  Mark Murray, Executive Director,  Californians Against Waste; Ruskin Hartley, CEO, Heal the Bay; Irma Munoz, President,  Mujeres de la Tierra; Lewis MacAdams, President, Friends of the Los Angeles River; Dan Jacobson, Environment California; Jim Araby, Executive Director, United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council; and Ronald Fong, California Grocers Association.

Photo taken from Sen. Padilla’s facebook page

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5 comments

joe blow from idaho Jan 25, 2014 - 9:44 am

Why stop there??? Why not ban bottled water?? Its filter tap water!!! This is the biggest waste of energy and the environment. My niece came out of a store with a 20oz bottle of “Smart Water” which she paid $1.89 for. I told her there was nothing smart about that. ITS FILTERED TAP WATER!!!! The marketing departments of Pepsi and Coke have done their job if it can get a bunch of sheepeole to spend that much for filtered tap water.

JimSimmons42 Jan 25, 2014 - 9:47 am

I can understand wanting to do a ban, but this should be up to each county or city, not the state.

Righteous in the 'Wood Jan 26, 2014 - 5:39 pm

Most everyone I know re-purposes these bags for trash can liners. Once they ban these bags, I, along with everyone else who does this, will have to start using an alternative trash can liner for each of our small trash cans in the house. They will most likely be plastic. They will most likely be exactly like the ones I get now from the grocery store, except no annoying hand holes. So, while I’ll be out a modest sum of cash to pay for these, as will everyone else who solve this problem in this manner, in no way will we diminish the amount of trash bags ending up in our landfills. So, what exactly will this accomplish?

As for the water bottles, that argument can be made for many other products as well. They sell sandwich making ingredients in the store, so why go to a sandwich shop for one?

Convenience. Free choice. Free markets. That’s why people buy water in bottles.

B-Wood Jan 26, 2014 - 9:24 pm

I agree. I reuse all of my plastic bags and think these “bans” are ridiculous.

California is going beyond a nanny state with this latest move.

Adrian Mar 28, 2014 - 11:22 am

I suggest a ban on career politicians. Time for Nathan to mind his own business and peace other people alone. First, banning free plastic grocery bags won’t reduce waste. California’s Statewide Waste Characterization Study shows that “Plastic Grocery and Other Merchandise Bags” consistently make up just 0.3 percent of the waste stream in the state. That’s three-tenths of 1 percent. In comparison, organic waste such as food and yard clippings makes up 32 percent while construction debris comprises about 30 percent. The effect of eliminating free grocery bags on the amount of waste generated in the city would be insignificant.

Second, despite misleading claims from environmental groups and the L.A. Bureau of Sanitation, banning free plastic grocery bags won’t do much to reduce litter in the public commons.Litter studies from across the country demonstrate that, on average, plastic retail bags make up about 1 percent to 2 percent of all litter.

Even that small amount of litter doesn’t decline when bans are enacted. In San Francisco, plastic bags comprised 0.6 percent of litter before the city banned plastic bags and 0.64 percent a year after the ban took effect. Since plastic grocery bags make up less than 2 percent of roadside trash, banning them will affect neither the total amount of litter nor the cost of cleaning it up.

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