Grocery store chains, weary of lawsuits, are pushing for legislation to eliminate the use of reusable plastic bags in California. The Legislature is advancing two bills aimed at shifting shoppers to paper bags only. Opponents, however, are calling the measures a Trojan horse and argue they would instead spur the proliferation of cheap plastic bags that are more harmful to the planet and people.
California swept headlines a decade ago when lawmakers passed the nation’s first ban on single use plastic bags. Grocery stores pivoted to reusable plastic bags and added a 10-cent fee for each one sold. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, argues that effort failed to eliminate the plastic waste that is clogging waterways and exacerbating microplastic contamination in the soil and ocean.
“Californians are ready to just take paper,” said Bauer-Kahan, during a recent committee hearing on her Assembly Bill 2236. “It'll make an incredible difference for our climate and our environment.”
Jennifer Fearing, Fearless AdvocacyAbout 75 environmental organizations and dozens of local government leaders support AB 2236, along with Senate Bill 1053, an identical measure that has progressed to the Assembly floor.
“SB 270 (2014) allowed for thicker plastic bag films to be used under the guise they were reusable,” said Jennifer Fearing, a lobbyist for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Ocean Conservancy and the advocacy organization Oceana. “This bill clearly ends this ruse and makes clear that only paper bags may be offered by grocers at the point of sale.”
The legislation has pitted two retailers against each other: the manufacturers of reusable plastic bags and grocers.
Louis Brown, lobbying on behalf of the California Grocers Association, pointed out that the debate has been circulating around the Capitol since 2006, when lawmakers passed legislation requiring retailers to meet certain reduction benchmarks for plastic bags. The goal was for grocers to take the bags back and recycle them.
“That law sunsetted, frankly, because it was never used,” said Brown. “The manufacturers never came through with their commitment to make that happen.”
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The association then lined up in support of SB 270 to clarify the issue. Yet a steady barrage of lawsuits over the ensuing years drove the grocers to return to Sacramento to press lawmakers for further action.
“We've got grocers throughout Southern California that are facing lawsuits because they are providing bags to bring back to your store because they state they are recyclable,” said Brown. “And in fact, the manufacturers cannot prove they are recyclable. So we are taking the brunt of that.”
He acknowledged AB 2236 and SB 1053 would create a significant change and likely increase costs, but he reasoned the benefit would far exceed the expense, after cutting out litigation costs and improving the public perception of grocery bags.
Countering the arguments, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance claims the bills would actually create more plastic waste. Interim Director Phil Rozenski noted that New Jersey, New York and Canada have attempted this approach, only to discover it encourages the use of plastic bags that are made in China. With no recycled content and with potentially dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals, these bags are cheaper and more prolific. The bills would eliminate the requirement for plastic bags to contain 40% certified postconsumer recycled content. Rozenski added that the legislation would only ban plastic bags at the checkout counter but allow them to still be on display for purchase just a couple feet away.
“It doesn't mandate the stores use paper bags,” said Rozenski. “It's an option.”
Brown dismissed the claims, calling them illogical and contending the manufacturers “don’t understand the grocery business.”
“[Shoppers] will not have the choice to use plastic,” said Brown. “How is plastic use going to go up?”
Brown also shot down arguments from the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, which asserted that the legislation would result in higher prices for bags, disparately impacting underserved communities. He explained that, on average, 30% of grocery store customers are enrolled in WIC and SNAP benefits and not subject to the bag fee, while another 10% bring their own bags.
“I do think we're trying our best to get this right,” Bauer-Kahan told the committee. “And if you have better solutions to try to reduce the amount of plastic in our waterways, I invite that and I would happily support it.”
Lawmakers have advanced the bills along party lines. AB 2236 awaits a key vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, while lawmakers have until the end of the month to decide on SB 1053.
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