The Responsible Recycling Alliance Denounces the California Legislature’s Passage of AB 2236 and SB 1053

In voting to enact this flawed legislation, California lawmakers threaten the environment, businesses, consumers and ignore a majority of Californians

The Responsible Recycling Alliance (RRA), a coalition of three prominent California recyclers and manufacturers – EFS Plastics, Merlin Plastics, and PreZero US which was formed to help California reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic waste across the state through effective education and legislation – today shared its deep disappointment following the California State Senate’s and Assembly’s vote to send AB 2236 and SB 1053 to Governor Gavin Newsom for approval.

These two bills would ban reusable, recyclable, plastic film grocery bags in California, the convenient choice that millions of Californians use – and reuse – every day. If signed into law, they will impose a paper bag-only requirement on shoppers, leading to a series of negative unintended consequences for the environment, businesses and consumers.

“This ill-advised approval will create a cascade of problems for every Californian. These lawmakers chose to enact legislation that they know is flawed despite specific examples, studies, and polls that show banning plastic film grocery bags hurts consumers, businesses, is not what Californians want, and does not help the environment or limit plastic waste,” Roxanne Spiekerman, spokesperson for the RRA and Vice President of Public Affairs for PreZero US, said.

“We’re just now starting to see the benefits of the plastic recycling programs introduced via 2016’s SB 270. If Governor Newsom signs these bills into law, California will undercut a decade of hard work that improved our state’s environment and will effectively have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars invested in this critical effort,” Ms. Spiekerman continued. “Equally concerning is the fact that shoppers will simultaneously lose a convenient way to transport their groceries, and the critical infrastructure that has been built over the last decade to recycle the millions of pounds of plastic waste that already exist. We believe the facts matter.”

Importantly, these facts include:

• Paper bags consume more water and energy in their production and recycling than plastic film grocery bags.

• A paper-only requirement would lead to higher costs for small- and mid-size grocers which would trickle down to higher costs for consumers who are already struggling to feed their families.

About Responsible Recycling Alliance

The Responsible Recycling Alliance (RRA), a coalition of three prominent California recyclers and manufacturers – EFS Plastics, Merlin Plastics, and PreZero US – was formed to help California reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic waste across the state through effective education and legislation.

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