The California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) (www.crra.com) has announced that it will initiate a statewide campaign to enact local ordinances to regulate single-use carryout bags at convenience stores, if convenience stores are excluded from California Assembly Bill 1998.
The CRRA is a nonprofit state recycling organization that describes itself as “dedicated to reducing waste, pollution and greenhouse gasses through re-use, recycling, composting and product stewardship.”
AB (Assembly Bill) 1998, as currently written, would ban grocery and convenience stores from providing customers with plastic, single-use carryout bags with the intention of shifting Californians to using more sustainable re-usable bags.
“As the California Grocers Association has learned, California cities, particularly coastal cities, are no longer willing to tolerate the costs and environmental burdens these poorly designed products, most of which are manufactured overseas, place on local communities”, says Julie Muir, CRRA president.
“CRRA commends the California Grocers Association for its thoughtful participation in the development of AB 1998 and their support of this bill,” Muir continues. “It would be unfortunate if the convenience store industry failed to understand the value of having a single, statewide standard for carryout bags used at convenience stores, as AB 1998 as currently written would achieve, instead of the patchwork of local ordinances that would result if convenience stores are excluded from the provisions of AB 1998.”
A coalition of environmental groups has supported AB 1998 because of what the groups point to as the detrimental effects of single-use plastic bags when they become litter.
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