Effective July 1, 2015, shoppers in California will have to adapt to a change at the checkout line.
California SB 270, signed by Governor Brown on September 30, will ban "single-use carryout bags," impose a minimum $0.10 fee on recycled paper bags and reusable grocery bags, set minimum recycled material quantities for paper bags, and create requirements and require third-party certification for companies manufacturing reusable grocery bags. Violations are subject to civil liability fines of up to $5,000 per day. The state law also does not preempt local laws already in place.
As part of
ISRI's policy on plastic and paper bags, ReMA opposes bans and fees on paper and plastic bags that are being manufactured into useful commodity grade materials and sold into viable, commercial markets without subsidies or noncompetitive, fixed pricing. Several manufacturing and recycling companies have vowed to bring the bag ban before voters for the 2016 ballot. Other state governments are watching California to see what direction the bag ban ultimately takes; the National Conference of State Legislatures has compiled information on
state and local bag bans for legislators interested in legislative trends. ReMA members can track the progress of bag bans and other legislation impacting the recycling industry by logging in to the
ISRI State Policy page.