June 28, 2010

RE:  AB 1998 (Brownley) Single-Use Bag Reduction Act:

Dear Senator Simitian:

We write to express our support of the Single-Use Bag Reduction Act (Assembly Bill 1998) as amended. AB 1998 is scheduled to be heard before the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.  AB 1998 would ban plastic single-use carryout bags and require and require recycled paper carryout bags be sold at supermarkets, retail pharmacies, and convenience stores throughout the state.

As founders of Plastic Pollution Coalition, we are concerned with the environmental and economic impacts of plastic bag pollution in inland and coastal communities throughout the state.  Californians use an estimated 19 billion single-use plastic bags every year.  The state spends an estimated $25 million annually to clean up and landfill these littered bags, which does not include the hundreds of millions of dollars that local governments continually spend to clean littered streets and waterways.

We can no longer recycle our way out of this problem.  Despite efforts to expand recycling programs, less than 5% of single-use plastic bags are currently being recycled. The rest of these bags end up in our landfills or as litter, clogging stormdrain systems, and making their way to our waterways and ocean.  It is estimated that 60–80% of all marine debris, and 90% of floating debris is plastic. Plastic lasts for hundreds of years in our environment and may never biodegrade in the ocean.  As a result, it poses a persistent threat to wildlife.  Over 267 species worldwide have been impacted by plastic litter, including plastic bags.

Paper bags are not a viable alternative to plastic bags.  Paper bag production contributes to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and waterborne wastes from the pulping and paper making process.  Even compostable plastic bags made of plant-based sources have not proven to degrade in the ocean. Instead, they require industrial composting facilities, and only a small number of cities currently support the infrastructure to collect and dispose of compostable bags properly.

San Francisco, Malibu, Fairfax, and Palo Alto have banned plastic bags and at least 20 more cities in California are considering this approach.  Rather than taking a piecemeal city-by-city approach, AB 1998 will create one uniform policy for addressing all types of single-use bags to encourage consumers to use reusable bags, the most sustainable alternative.

California has a critical role to play in becoming a true leader in eliminating plastic bag waste and preventing the proliferation of plastic pollution in our communities.  The passage of AB 1998 will be a major step in breaking our addiction to single-use bags.

Sincerely,

Daniella Russo (Co-founder and Executive Director), Lisa Kaas Boyle (cofounder), Dianna Cohen (cofounder), Manuel Maqueda (cofounder)