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California Exclusive Commission Sells Violators of Plastic Bags Law Reuters

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© Reuters. Reusable and non-recyclable plastic plastic bags from stores and shops in Southern California are on display at Laguna Niguel (California, USA) on December 1, 2021. Eat through Dell / Handout REUTERS

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Author: Valerie Volcovici

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Large retailers are breaking California law and misleading consumers by selling plastic shopping bags with language and symbols that suggest they can be recycled, according to a state-appointed commission.

The group has asked California to force retailers to remove the words “behind the arrows” and the words “recycle” and “recyclable” from everywhere, Reuters has learned. If successful, the move could result in sacks being sold at the box office of America’s most populous state. The commission also targets envelopes used for home delivery and packaging materials and plastic films in some food products.

In a letter to Reuters on Dec. 3, the California State Board of Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling asked the California Attorney General and regulator CalRecycle to say it is illegal labeling, which is undermining the state’s efforts to combat plastic pollution.

Deceived by the recycling symbols, Californians are mistakenly being thrown into street pickup programs that do not support this material, the commission said. This increases the cost of recycling companies to get rid of wastewater and repair equipment that is stuck in these soft plastics.

The complaint did not distinguish the name of the seller. The California Grocers Association (CGA) said it does not believe that the current recycling labels for reusable bags are misleading. CGA spokeswoman Nate Rose said the bags must comply with the law’s certification guidelines, be made from at least 40% recycled material and be durable enough to be used 125 times.

In an interview with Reuters, Heidi Sanborn, head of the recycling committee, said it was not surprising that Californians were confused.

“California is a wild west of recycling labeling and there are no sheriffs in town,” said Sanborn, the founding director of the National Stewardship Action Council, which works to reduce product waste. The 16-member committee is made up of waste industry executives, environmentalists and public officials. CalRecycle is responsible for advising and making recommendations for improving the state’s recycling system.

The commission’s complaint comes as a crackdown on what critics say in California comes as the state faces a single-use purchase ban in 2017. That legislation, the first in the nation, came amid strong opposition from the plastics industry, which spent nearly $ 6 million trying to stop it, according to state lobby records.

A compromise provision in the measure allowed retailers to sell reusable plastic bags, each for at least 10 cents. The law also states that bags must be able to be recycled in California.

It is this provision that requires the recycling commission to enforce the state. In practice, the cost of converting soft plastics, such as shopping bags and packaging films into new products, is so costly that recyclers say there is no market for this material. So these items are not widely accepted in recycling programs across California. That’s why, the commission says, they shouldn’t be labeled “recyclables”.

The commission also complained that some retailers, in the face of increased public pressure to reduce waste, are misleading consumers by saying that their bags and plastic films can be returned to participating stores for recycling.

Four board members told Reuters that traders had not shown evidence that these programs recycle that material. Recycling bins, they say, tend to attract a mixture of garbage that ends up in landfills.

Among the merchants that offer bag return programs is CVS Pharmacy, a Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp (NYSE 🙂 drug store unit. The chain sells reusable plastic bags with a logo and detailed lettering behind the arrows, allowing consumers to “recycle this bag in participating stores.”

CVS Health spokeswoman Eva Pereira did not answer questions about the company’s involvement in more than 1,100 stores in California. He said CVS hires outside companies to manage recycling initiatives to restore its stores “and expects the processes of these partners to comply with applicable law.” One of the company’s leading vendors of recycling solutions, g2 revolution, has not responded to requests for comment.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ 🙂 also promotes a plastic return program in California. Spokeswoman Saige Kolpack said the Seattle retailer is making “rapid progress” in reducing the use of single-use plastic containers. When asked by Reuters to prove that the waste returned through the California initiative is being recycled, he said, “We have nothing to share with that question.”

Walmart (NYSE) spokeswoman Lauren Willis said bags sold by California’s retail giants are designed to meet the requirements of the state’s plastic bag law and are “100% recyclable through our in-store collection program, along with other polyethylene film items. recyclable waste “. It has not responded to requests for documentation on how materials collected in this way are recycled or how many locations in California are involved. Walmart has 311 retail units in California, including supermarkets, neighborhood markets and Sam’s Club department stores.

Lance Klug, a spokeswoman for CalRecycle, said the regulator allows the termination of “fraudulent” labeling on plastic bags and packaging films. But enforcement is said to be a local district attorney and Rob Bonta is the chief prosecutor in California.

Bont’s office said it was committed to enforcing state environmental laws, but said it could not comment on “potential or ongoing research.”

If the state follows the board’s advice, it could effectively end the sale of these bags and films in California, or force retailers to actually make them recyclable, said board member Jan Dell, founder of environmental group The Last Beach Cleanup.

“This will destroy their ability to claim that their products are recyclable,” he said.

THE THREAT OF RECYCLING

Globally, less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, according to the United Nations, because it is cheaper to bury or burn.

These wastes are clogging landfills, damaging the oceans and damaging wildlife. Governments around the world have responded to laws that pay for pollutants and bans on single-use plastics, such as straws and shopping bags.

In California, the thicker plastic bags sold by retailers now have to be used dozens of times. In fact, environmentalists say that many consumers quickly throw it in the trash. Even worse, those who end up in recycling bins say they are making the job of recycling companies more difficult.

Recyclers need to take the time and effort to get their bags out of the waste stream so they don’t damage the sorting machinery, said Pete Keller, vice president. Republic Services Inc (NYSE :), one of the largest waste managers in the United States. Errant bags often collect waste in rotating discs that separate their size and weight, forcing the recycler to close the equipment.

Keller said he supports removing the language for recycling from these bags as part of a broader educational effort to stop Californians from throwing it in the trash.

The plastics industry said this would be a mistake as more waste would be turned into rubbish. Some labels target consumers on a website called How2Recycle, which provides instructions for recycling through in-store programs, according to Zachary Taylor, director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance. The alliance is part of a lobby group of the Plastics Industry Association that led the opposition to the ban on bags in California.

“The removal of the state-mandated label … will lead to more plastic being dumped in landfills,” Taylor said.

It remains to be seen whether the reusable bags that California is responding to on the recycling committee and forcing retailers to prove are truly recyclable.

Green groups say the state should start shrinking now to prepare for an even bigger enforcement task ahead. In October, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a new environmental “labeling” measure for all products and packaging sold in California, not just shopping bags. This law makes it illegal for companies to use the word “recyclable” or the arrow sign on their backs in non-recyclable items in the real world.

This law will come into force in June 2025. From now until then, the CalRecycle regulator will have to present a list of plastics that it considers recyclable in street programs.


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