L.A.'s Single-Use Bag Ban Keeps Blowin' In The Wind, Postponed Until January
L.A.'s proposed ban on single-use shopping bags was postponed by city lawmakers on Friday who have requested further studies be conducted on the ban's economic impact.
The requested analysis will help the city determine if they will make the bold move of banning all single-use shopping bags or mirror bans enacted in other cities that ban single-use plastic bags but still offer single-use paper bags for a tiny fee.
L.A. Now reports that support for the ban appears to be strong on the City Council. Council members in support of the ban, including Richard Alarcon, Paul Krekorian and Paul Koretz, feel the ban should've been passed long ago and believe that L.A.'s action could instigate a statewide ban.
Several City Council members have pledged to get the measure passed before March 31, 2012 - before the state Legislature's spring break.
Wary of the ban, Councilwoman Jan Perry asked the Chief Legislative Analyst and the City Administrative Officer to "report back in thirty days on the potential cost of several scenarios, including a ban on both types of bags, a ban only on plastics and the possibility of charging a fee for paper bags," according to L.A. Now. Perry also put in an additional request during Friday's meeting, asking the Bureau of Sanitation to produce a 60-day plan to inform stores and the community of upcoming changes.
Opposition to the ban says producing paper bags uses just as much energy as when producing plastic bags, producing reusable bags also takes a toll on the environment and banning single-use bags would threaten the livelihoods of bag manufacture employees.
City officials appear reluctant to approve the ban due to potential legal ramifications. Several cities that have enacted bans have faced legal action. Manhattan Beach, as an example, was "sued on the basis of inadequate environmental review," reports L.A. Now, who spoke with Karen Coca, the head of the Bureau of Sanitation's recycling division. The California Supreme Court ruled to uphold the ban. L.A. has not conducted an environmental review yet.
Heal the Bay, who recently named December 15 as "Day Without A Bag," says that over 4 million Californians now live in communities where plastic bags are banned. Other municipalities that have bagged plastic bags include Long Beach, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Malibu. Other cities, like Huntington Beach, Burbank, Glendale and Beverly Hills, are working toward similar bans.
If you're still on the fence about the single-use bag ban, here's some food for thought from Heal the Bay.
An estimated 2.33 billion single-use plastic carryout bags and 400 million single-use paper bags are used annually in the city of L.A. With less than 5% of those bags being recycled, the vast majority winds up gobbling up precious landfill, clogging storm drains or fouling our oceans.
