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Bagging the plastic bag?
New law requiring retailers to offer recycling bins, reusable bags may not have proved to be fruitful
| Sunday, Jan 20 2008 9:30 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jan 21 2008 7:32 AM
Kenneth Cannon waited in an Albertsons checkout line last month when he noticed a rack of reusable shopping bags nearby.
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A recycling bin is shown at Green Frog Market.
In the last year, Green Frog Market has been carrying reusable shopping bags and offering a recycling bin for plastic bags in an effort to reduce waste and be in compliance with new standards.
A Green Frog Market employee readies a bag of items for a customer as she finishes paying.
It was a pivotal moment for the retired Pacific Telephone employee. He grabbed one of the bags and his groceries haven't left the store in flimsy plastic ever since.
"I even said to the woman in front of me, 'These are only a dollar, why don't you get one?' And she did," Cannon said. "I'm not really an environmentalist, I just think it's a good idea."
Shortly after San Francisco banned plastic bags last year, a lesser-known state law took effect aimed at getting more people to shop like Cannon. In July, California became the first state to require grocery stores, pharmacies and other large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target to tackle the plastic bag problem. The law required stores to provide recycling bins for plastic bags and to sell reusable shopping bags.
Cannon was an immediate convert but six months after the law took effect, no one's sure how many other reformed shoppers it's created.
"It's easy legislation because it doesn't involve taxes and it looks like (politicians) are doing something," said Scott Hair, president of Green Frog Market, a family-owned grocery store in Bakersfield since 1934.
Green Frog Market has sold reusable bags since 1994, Hair said, and sales have not increased despite the recent spotlight on plastic bags. And the store already offered plastic bag recycling.
The fact is, Hair said, "a customer wants something convenient to get their groceries home safe. If that's something that helps the environment, then they like that. But a lot of times it just depends what kind of trash can liner they need at home."
Vons and Albertsons have also offered plastic bag recycling and sold reusable bags for years, company officials said. Both companies declined to provide recycling rates or sales figures for reusable bags but Vons spokesman Daymond Rice said that of the 2,600 tons of plastic the company recycled last year, 40 percent came from plastic bags.
Young's Marketplace on Brundage Lane didn't have recycling bins before the law passed. The ones now stationed at the store's two entrances fill up on a weekly basis, said store director Roy Lopez.
But sales of reusable bags at the store have dropped significantly despite a good start, he said. Overall, Lopez said he's not convinced the new law's achieved much.
"As far as what its done for the environment, who really knows?" he said.
BAGS PROBLEMATIC, IN LOW DEMAND
Lassen's Natural Food and Vitamins on California Avenue is small enough to be exempt from the law.
Bakersfield store manger Jay Escover said he'd like to provide plastic bag recycling for his customers but the store can't find a recycler that will accept them.
The same problem is faced by city residents who want to recycle plastic bags at home. Plastic bags or film aren't accepted in the metro Bakersfield optional curbside recycling program. They're also not welcome at drop-off recycling centers around town or the recycling center run by the Bakersfield Association for Retarded Citizens.
"Unfortunately we're in the same loophole as the customer," Escover said. "We just try to encourage customers to use reusable bags or paper."
Lack of a demand for used plastic bags is one reason cited by Bakersfield Solid Waste officials for not accepting plastic bags in the curbside recycling bins.
"You have to have a middle man to handle it and that's not available to us on a large scale," said Kevin Barnes, the city's solid waste director.
And plastic bags aren't easy to handle and often jam the machines that sort co-mingled recyclables.
In fact, that's one of the main reasons why San Francisco banned the bags, according to Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, a statewide environmental group.
"The bags were literally gumming up the works," Murray said. "I think there was an operational breakdown that occurred as a result of the plastic bags that cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix."
San Francisco Environment Department spokeswoman Thea Hillman confirmed the plastic bag ban wasn't just about unsightly litter. The company that collects the city's recyclables "regularly has to shut down equipment and go in with box cutters to get the plastic bags out," Hillman said.
TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN
So far, a ban on plastic bags statewide seems unlikely.
The Legislature doesn't have the political will to do it, said Murray, of Californians Against Waste.
Besides, plastic bags are the cheapest option for grocery stores so a move to paper-only could drive up food costs, he said.
And there are health issues to be considered, as well.
"Think of all the chicken sold at grocery stores. You don't want that leaking into reusable bags," Murray said. "I'm sure someone will always have a need for a plastic bag."
Many see a fee for plastic bags as the answer. Los Angeles is considering it. The Board of Supervisors there is expected to take up the issue next week.
However, state law prohibits cities and counties from adopting an ordinance that would require shoppers to pay for the bags. That leaves banning them as the only option.
The law could change, though.
Earlier this week, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, who authored the current law, announced a new version he plans to introduce this year.
It would require grocery stores to meet certain plastic bag recycling benchmarks -- a store must show it has recycled 35 percent of the bags it gives out by 2010, and 70 percent by 2012. If they don't, the stores will be forced to stop using plastic bags.
The bill also would repeal the section that prohibits cities and counties from placing a fee on the bags.
Tehachapi resident Allyson Gray who's shopped with canvas bags for years, said a fee might be the best way to get people off plastic.
"That way, if they absolutely need a plastic bag, it will be available for them." she said, "But it will push people to bring their own bag."
By the numbers
3 to 5: Amount, in cents, each bag costs grocery stores, compared with 8 to 9 cents for a paper bag
17: Cost, in cents, per bag spent on litter cleanup and removal of bags from recycling and greenwaste bins in San Francisco
19 billion: Number of plastic bags consumed in California each year
5 percent: Amount of plastic bags recycled in California
Sources: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works; San Francisco Department of Environment, California Integrated Waste Management Board; Ireland Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
The score on plastic bag recycling worldwide
From staff and wire reports
INTERNATIONALLY Canada: Leaf Rapids, Manitoba, became the first municipality in North America to forbid the use of plastic bags by shops. The law, which took effect in April, calls for fines up to $1,000 (Canadian), though no one has yet received one, a city official said.
Africa: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania's Zanzibar islands have banned the flimsy plastic bags that float through the air, introducing minimum-thickness requirements. Many independent supermarkets in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, now charge a small fee for each plastic bag but also give away a free, reusable basket with a minimum purchase.
Germany: Most stores give consumers the option of a plastic bag or a canvas- or cotton-made tote — for a fee. Plastic bags range from 7 to 74 cents. Canvas or cloth bags sell for about $1.47. All stores that offer plastic bags have to pay a recycling fee.
Ireland: In March 2003, Ireland introduced a levy on every plastic shopping bag, resulting in a big drop in the number of bags stores were handing out.
IN THE U.S.
San Francisco banned common plastic shopping bags in March, and at least 30 villages and towns in Alaska have followed suit.
The New York City Council approved a measure similar to California’s earlier this month that requires large stores to recycle plastic bags. Chain stores with more than five locations and stores occupying 5,000 or more square feet would have to establish in-store recycling programs for the bags. Stores would be fined for not complying, but there would be no penalty for consumers.
California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, proposed a more stringent law on plastic bags earlier this week. Under the law, stores must show they’ve recycled at least 35 percent of the bags issued by 2010 or they can no longer issue plastic bags.
By 2012, a store must recycle 70 percent of plastic bags given out. The new bill would also repeal a stipulation in the current law that prevents cities and counties from requiring stores to charge a fee for bags.
Cities considering fees or outright bans on plastic bags include Austin; Boston; New Haven, Conn.; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix; and Annapolis, Md., according to the Pacific Protection Initiative, an effort launched in California to address problems of plastic marine debris.