There is a better solution.
As written, AB 2236 and SB 1053 are anti-environmental bills. The unintended consequences of enacting these bills will hurt the environment.
Leads to more bags in landfills.
Were the currently available reusable grocery plastic film bags banned (as AB 2236 and SB 1053 seek to do) the only bag alternative will be the canvas and sewn poly-woven or non-woven bags, which are not recyclable by any known method in the U.S. — leading to more bags destined for a landfill.
Questionable standards of production.
Canvas and sewn poly-woven or non-woven polypropylene bags are manufactured overseas, do not contain post-consumer content, and are dependent on supply chain reliability. Questionable labor standards, as well as the manufacturer's safety protocols, may also be scrutinized.
Use of more water.
Equally harmful is the only other alternative these bills allow: paper bags. Producing paper bags uses more water and energy than is used to produce reusable plastic film bags and a greater amount of water and energy to recycle them.
Recycling will go away.
Without a single plastic recyclable bag for Californians to use at home to collect the plastics they encounter every day, grocery stores and other community collection locations will no longer have the volume needed to keep their plastic film bag recycling bins in place and will likely remove them, resulting in more bags in landfills.
