Plastic Bag Reduction Policy
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Reducing Our Impact on the Environment
In 2005, we estimated that over 180 million plastic bags were distributed in San Francisco. Mayor Newsom was alarmed by this fact and sought a way to dramatically reduce the city’s consumption of plastic shopping bags.
The Mayor asked the Department of the Environment to develop a fee to be imposed on the use of plastic bags. Studies have shown this is the most effective way to reduce plastic bag consumption. However, during the time the environmental impact study was being completed the State of California passed a bill to prohibit this precise type of fee. San Francisco was still determined to reduce its consumption of plastic bags and therefore decided to ban their use in the large supermarkets and pharmacies.
A city concerned with the negative impact plastic bags are having on their community should consider different ways to reduce them.
“Reducing the number of plastic bags in our community will help minimize our negative impacts on the environment.”
A city may ban them entirely from major stores or run educational campaigns encouraging consumers to use their own reusable bags. Each city is different and there is not one way that will work everywhere. The following is a list of frequently asked questions about the ordinance, a brief summary of how San Francisco passed the ordinance and a few things to keep in mind when attempting to pass a plastic bag ban in your community, the text of the passed legislation, and a list of stakeholders to keep in mind throughout the process.
FAQs
What is the plastic bag reduction ordinance?
The Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance passed in March of 2007. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags consumed and disposed of in the City. Authored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and signed into law by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the ordinance prohibits major supermarkets and large chain pharmacies from distributing plastic check-out bags. Instead, the stores may issue compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags, or sell reusable bags. Stores who violate the ordinance are issued fines.
Why is it important in San Francisco?
San Francisco residents used 180 million plastic bags a year in 2005. San Francisco is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and this initiative is one of many to help reduce our negative impact on the environment. San Francisco has aggressive goals for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the amount of waste we put into landfills. Reducing the number of plastic bags in our community will help minimize our negative impacts on the environment.
According to the California Coastal Commission, up to 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic, which never biodegrades. As a city surrounded on three sides by ocean water we are keenly aware of the need to protect and preserve our oceans. Recycling plastic bags is costly and mostly ineffective. The California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates that less than 5 percent of all single use plastic bags in the state are actually recycled. Single-use plastic bags have an average use time of 12 minutes. The bags also litter the streets and waterways of San Francisco and produce unnecessary cleanup costs.
What is the impact on the environment?
Californians throw away over 600 plastic bags every SECOND. Californians use more than 19 billion plastic grocery bags and merchandise bags each year, roughly 552 bags per person. This usage generates 147,038 tons of unnecessary waste — enough to stretch around the globe over 250 times. These bags end up in our land fills and our oceans at a real cost to our pocket books and our environment.
Plastic trash entangles, suffocates, and poisons at least 267 animal species worldwide. About 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide in one day last year. Plastic debris that ends up in our oceans is estimated to kill over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles each year. Plastic bags are considered especially dangerous to sea turtles, who mistake them for jellyfish, a main food source. 86% of all known species of sea turtles have had reported problems of entanglement or ingestion of marine debris.
What stores were asked to comply under the ordinance?
San Francisco’s plastic bag reduction ordinance focuses on large supermarkets (over $2 million in gross annual sales receipts) and chain pharmacies. Large supermarkets and pharmacies were the target because they circulate large amounts of plastic bags and were better equipped to make the switch than most of the smaller stores in San Francisco. City leaders also wanted to see how grocery stores and pharmacies were able to comply with the ban before considering a complete ban that would involve the entire city.
How long did San Francisco give stores to comply?
The ordinance was initially passed in March 2007 and went into effect in November 2007, giving the supermarkets almost eight months to come into compliance. Pharmacies were given fourteen months to comply.
How is San Francisco doing today?
Norcal Waste Systems reported in May of 2008 a 10-15 percent decrease in plastic bags at their Pier 96 recycling facility. Mark Westlund of the Department of the Environment estimated that the ban would eliminate 150 million bags from grocery stores alone.
The City and the stores continue to encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags.
One of San Francisco’s biggest farmers market voluntarily stopped issuing plastic bags in May of 2009. Citing environmental issues, market organizers decided it was best if shoppers bring their own bags to the market to help reduce waste. Some vendors still offer compostable BioBags and paper bags but the message encourages shoppers to bring their own bag.
Here are a few examples of what some supermarkets are doing:
Trader Joe’s – They are meeting ordinance requirements by: not using plastic bags and using the 100% recycled content, 40% post-consumer paper bags with handles only. They are promoting reuse and selling reusable bags and will be using compostable plastic bags.
Whole Foods – They are already fully meeting ordinance requirements by: using no plastic bags and the 100% recycled content, 40% post-consumer paper bags with handles only. They are promoting and rebating 5 cents for reusing bags and selling reusable bags. They are evaluating compostable bag use. They also experienced tremendous success with the switch and are now working on eliminating plastic bags at all of their locations.
Andronico’s – Using the 100% recycled content, 40% post-consumer, paper bags.
What are other communities doing?
In June, 2008, China banned shops throughout the country from giving out free plastic bags and banned the production, sale and use of any plastic bags less than one-thousandth of an inch thick. Ireland has imposed a 34-cent fee for each bag used. Uganda, Zanzibar, and many villages in Alaska have also banned plastic bags.
As of April 2009, San Jose is considering imposing a 25 cent fee on plastic bags that would help fund environmental public education campaigns. They have already been threatened with litigation. In 2008 Santa Clara County decided to run educational campaigns discouraging the use of plastic bags instead of imposing a fee or a ban.
California AB 2058 failed to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2008. The bill would have imposed a 25 cent fee on single-use plastic bags at large grocery stores and pharmacies throughout the state. Opponents of the bill included the Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council, California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Grocers Association, California Retailers Association, Earth Resources Foundation, Green Sangha, Malibu Surfing Association, and the Surfrider Foundation.
Process
1. Study Your Options
Regardless of the approach, it is probably advisable to conduct an environmental impact study to determine the impact of plastic bag waste on your community. Environmental impact reports can be expensive but are necessary to support the claim that plastic bags are hazardous to the environment. Some states provide environmental data that may help prove your claim but it may not be enough to avoid a lawsuit. With help from your point person, conduct an environmental impact report that helps determine how much a reduction in plastic bags will help the community.
The San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE) conducted a study to determine the impact of plastic bag waste on the environment and the city’s finances. SFE utilized staff internally in addition to hiring the Environmental Science Associates to compile the necessary data to prove that reducing the number of plastic bags would be good for San Francisco’s environment.
The City of Los Angeles failed to do an environmental impact report in 2008 and was sued by “Save the Plastic Bag” attorney, Stephan L. Joseph. Oakland also failed to perform an environmental impact report and lost a case brought on by the Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling. The reports can cost approximately $100,000 but are needed to determine the negative impact the bags have on the environment. Other cities that have been sued include Santa Cruz, Palo Alto, Fairfax, Manhattan Beach and Seattle.
2. Decide Your Approach
The SFE and Mayor Newsom initially planned to impose a fee on all plastic bags sold in San Francisco. The idea was supported by the Commission on the Environment who later put forth a resolution asking the Board of Supervisors to vote on the issue. During this time however, a law was passed in the California Legislature banning fees on plastic bags. Therefore, an alternative method of banning plastic bags was pursued. The SFE worked in collaboration with the Environmental Science Associates to determine how to implement the ban.
Contact your department, or point person, responsible for environmental issues and propose the idea of a plastic bag ban. Their knowledge and support will be instrumental in deciding if a ban is right for your city. You may want to decide on a time frame that allows the stores to comply without overstretching their resources. You will also need to decide the fine amounts and designate their use.
Issue area experts within your community will also be helpful in conducting an environmental impact report or recommending someone who can. Many cities that attempted to ban plastic bags were sued because they failed to conduct an adequate environmental impact report. In our opinion, this is a critical first step to a successful policy initiative.
3. Discuss with stakeholders
Meet with businesses that will be affected by the plastic bag reduction measure you initiate. Even though they may oppose it, keeping an open line of communication with the businesses is necessary to help them comply when the program or legislation takes effect. It is also important to educate the businesses about their alternatives to plastic bags.
Before an ordinance banning plastic bags was passed, the Mayor reached out to supermarkets and asked them to voluntarily reduce their use of plastic bags. These were the same supermarkets that would eventually need to comply with ordinance.
It is also important to meet with advocacy organizations that will bolster your arguments. Community and advocacy groups can be effective allies in lobbying elected officials, as well as community and business leaders. There are national as well as local groups that will be extremely supportive of your efforts once they are aware.
4. Identify sponsors, introduce legislation, and build support
Once a recommendation is made from the group leading the project, a political sponsor should be contacted to push the idea forward. This person will usually be an elected official with the ability to introduce legislation for the city or county to consider.
In San Francisco, the ordinance was introduced by Supervisor Mirkarimi with Supervisors Ammiano, McGoldrick, Daly, Sandoval, Peskin, Maxwell, and Alioto-Pier as co-sponsors. It was supported by many environmental groups, several city agencies, and Mayor Gavin Newsom.
5. Implement
The SF Department of the Environment recognized plastic bag waste as a hazard to the City in September of 2004. By 2006, they had completed a study that suggested a ban on plastic bags would help reduce waste in San Francisco. An ordinance banning plastic bags was passed by the Board of Supervisors in March of 2007. It was signed by the Mayor and added by ordinance in April of 2007. It went into effect November 20, 2007 for supermarkets and May 20, 2008 for pharmacies.
To help the impacted businesses implement the plastic bag ban, have a city department reach out to stores affected by the ban and provide helpful resources such as a list of vendors that sell reusable bags. The biggest 50 supermarkets in San Francisco stopped providing their customers single use plastic bags soon after the ordinance went into effect. There was a clear increase by stores in promoting and selling reusable bags, with a noticeable increase in customers using reusable bags.
6. Monitor and evaluate
The SF Department of the Environment created a website that allows residents to report stores that continue to distribute non-reusable plastic bags. This allows the City to more easily determine who may be in violation of the ban and impose the appropriate fines or sanctions.
In San Francisco, several community organizations also set up websites that encouraged using reusable bags. Community based organizations that helped support the ban in the beginning may be able to help with the educational campaigns. The Department of the Environment also continues to encourage the use of reusable bags.
Stakeholders
- American Plastics Council
- Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition
- Californians Against Waste
- California’s Grocer’s Association
- Center for Urban Education on Sustainable Agriculture
- Clean Water Action
- Department of Public Works
- Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
- Integrated Water Management Board
- Northern California Recycling Assoc
- SF Clean City Coalition
- Sierra Club
- Sunset Scavenger Company
- Supermarkets and chain pharmacies
Legislation
San Francisco Environment Code, Chapter 17, Sections 1701-1709
CHAPTER 17: PLASTIC BAG REDUCTION ORDINANCE
SEC. 1701. SHORT TITLE.
This Ordinance shall be entitled the “Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance.”
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
For the purposes of this Ordinance, the following words shall have the following meanings:
(a)”ASTM Standard” means the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)’s International standard D6400 for compostable plastic, as that standard may be amended from time to time.
(b)”Compostable Plastic Bag” means a plastic bag that (1) conforms to California labeling law (Public Resources Code Section 42355 et seq.), which requires meeting the current ASTM-Standard Specifications for compostability; (2) is certified and labeled as meeting the ASTM-Standard by a recognized verification entity such as the Biodegradable Product Institute; (3) conforms to requirements to ensure that the renewable based product content is maximized over time as set forth in Department of the Environment regulations; (4) conforms to requirements to ensure that products derived from genetically modified feedstocks are phased out over time as set forth in Department of the Environment regulations; and (5) displays the phrase “Green Cart Compostable” and the word “Reusable” in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bag.
(c)”Checkout bag” means a carryout bag that is provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale.
(d)”Department” means the Department of the Environment.
(e)”Director” means the Director of the Department of the Environment.
(f)”Highly visible manner” means (1) for compostable plastic bags, displaying both of the following in green lettering contrasting with the bag’s background color that is at least two inches high: (i) the phrase “Green Cart Compostable” “either on the front and back of the bag together with a solid green band at least one-half inch thick circling the circumference of the bag, or repeatedly, as a band of text or text alternating with solid stripe, circling the circumference of the bag, and (ii) the word “Reusable” displayed on the front and/or back of the bag; and (2) for recyclable paper bags, displaying the words “Reusable” and “Recyclable” on the front and/or back of the bag in blue lettering contrasting with the bag’s background color that is at least two inches high, and (3) for both compostable plastic bags and recyclable paper bags, as otherwise required by Department of the Environment regulations.
(g)”Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, cooperative, partnership, or association.
(h)”Pharmacy” means a retail use where the profession of pharmacy by a pharmacist licensed by the State of California in accordance with the Business and Professions Code is practiced and where prescriptions (and possibly other merchandise) are offered for sale, excluding such retail uses located inside a hospital.
(i)”Recyclable” means material that can be sorted, cleansed, and reconstituted using San Francisco’s available recycling collection programs for the purpose of using the altered form in the manufacture of a new product. Recycling does not include burning, incinerating, converting, or otherwise thermally destroying solid waste.
(j)”Recyclable Paper Bag” means a paper bag that meets all of the following requirements: (1) contains no old growth fiber, (2) is 100% recyclable overall and contains a minimum of 40% post-consumer recycled content, and (3) displays the words “Reusable” and “Recyclable” in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bag.
(k)”Reusable Bag” means a bag with handles that is specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse and is either (1) made of cloth or other machine washable fabric, and/or (2) made of durable plastic that is at least 2.25 mils thick.
(l)”Store” means a retail establishment located within the geographical limits of the City and County of San Francisco that meets either of the following requirements:
(1)is a full-line, self-service supermarket with gross annual sales of two million dollars ($2,000,000), or more, and which sells a line of dry grocery, canned goods, or nonfood items and some perishable items. For purposes of determining which retail establishments are supermarkets, the City shall use the annual updates of the Progressive Grocer Marketing Guidebook and any computer printouts developed in conjunction with the guidebook;, or
(2)is a retail pharmacy with at least five locations under the same ownership within the geographical limits of San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
SEC. 1703. MANDATORY USE OF RECYCLABLE AND COMPOSTABLE CHECKOUT BAGS.
(a)All Stores shall provide only the following as checkout bags to customers; recyclable paper bags, and/or compostable plastic bags, and/or reusable bags.
(b)Violation of the requirements set forth in subsection (a) shall subject a Store to penalties set forth in Section 1705.
(c)Nothing in this section shall be read to preclude Stores from making reusable bags available for sale to customers.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
The Director, after a public hearing, may adopt and may amend guidelines, rules, regulations and forms to implement this Ordinance.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
SEC. 1705. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.
(a)Any person who violates this Ordinance shall be guilty of an infraction. If charged as an infraction, upon conviction thereof, said person shall be punished by (1) a fine not exceeding $100.00 for a first violation, (2) a fine not exceeding $200.00 for a second violation within the same year, and (3) a fine not exceeding $500.00 for each additional violation within the same year.
(b)In the event that the City adopts an ordinance creating a procedure for the City Administrator to impose and review Administrative Penalties pursuant to California Government Code Section 53069.4, the City may impose Administrative Penalties for violation of this Ordinance as follows: (1) in an amount not exceeding $100.00 for the first violation, (2) in an amount not exceeding $200.00 for the second violation in the same year, and (3) in an amount not exceeding $500.00 for each subsequent violation in the same year.
(c)The City Attorney may seek legal, injunctive, or other equitable relief to enforce this Ordinance, including without limitation, civil penalties in an amount not exceeding $200.00 for the first violation, $400.00 for the second violation, and $600.00 for each subsequent violation in any given year.
(d)The City may not recover both administrative and civil penalties for the same violation.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
All of the requirements set forth in this Ordinance shall become operative as to Stores that are supermarkets six (6) months after its effective date. All of the requirements set forth in this Ordinance shall become operative as to Stores that are pharmacies one (1) year after its effective date.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Ordinance. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of this Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
SEC. 1708. NO CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL OR STATE LAW.
Nothing in this Ordinance shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any requirement, power or duty in conflict with any federal or state law.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
SEC. 1709. UNDERTAKING FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE.
In undertaking the implementation of this Ordinance, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officer and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(Added by Ord. 81-07, File No. 070085, App. 4/20/2007)
Toolkit
Download the Plastic Bag Reduction Policy Toolkit in pdf format
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