SF Plastic and Paper Grocery Bay Fee Policy Development
information, January 2005
1) Fact Sheet - see below.
2) SF Costs Associated With Paper and Plastic Bags http://sfgov.org/site/sfenvironment_page.asp?id=28374
3) The proposed resolution is at: http://sfgov.org/site/sfenvironment_page.asp?id=28305
San Francisco Bag Policy Fact Sheet
BACKGROUND
In 2003, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted goals of 75
percent landfill diversion by 2010, and zero waste by 2020. To achieve
these goals, the Zero Waste section of San Francisco's Environment
Department (SF Environment) promotes waste prevention, recycling and
composting programs and policies. The proposed bag policy would put a
fee on supermarket checkout bags-both paper and plastic-to reduce
the proliferation of unnecessary bags and their negative effects on the
environment and San Francisco's recycling, composting and litter
abatement programs.
THE PROBLEM
Bags are a problem because they:
… Use both dwindling natural resources and energy, and create
pollution during their production and distribution;
… Create significant litter, and disrupt drainage and sewer systems;
… Are perceived as disposable products; and
… Impede San Francisco's landfill diversion goals.
Additionally, conventional plastic grocery bags:
… Harm marine and other life;
… Are difficult to recycle or compost, and are major contaminants in
San Francisco's recycling and composting programs; and
… Contain little recycled content.
STATISTICS
… Each year the United States consumes 30 billion plastic and 10
billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees and 12
million barrels of oil.
… The pulp and paper industry is the 2nd largest industrial user of
energy in the U.S.
… More than 46,000 pieces of plastic contaminate each square mile of
our oceans.
… Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic
entanglement.
SOLUTIONS AROUND THE WORLD
Alaska:
o 30 communities have instituted bans on the distribution of
non-biodegradable plastic bags.
Australia:
o The government and Australian Retailers Association agreed to reduce
plastic bag use by 25 percent by 2004 and 50 percent by 2005;
o Created a kit for retailers to assist them in reducing plastic bag use
and ad campaigns educating shoppers about alternatives;
o Stores have launched programs such as providing a reusable bag to
shoppers who turn in 20 plastic bags; and
o Is considering a tax on single-use HDPE bags (#2 high density
polyethylene, the plastic used for most checkout bags).
Dhaka, Bangladesh:
o Banned polyethylene bags after they clogged drains and worsened
floods; and
o Is planning to extend the ban nationwide.
Bhutan:
o Vendors caught handing out plastic bags face losing their business
license.
Denmark:
o Plastic bag tax is twice that for paper bags, with both paid by
retailers upon purchase; and
o Consumption of paper and plastic bags has declined by 66 percent.
Ireland:
o 15 cent fee per bag on retail customers;
o Raised 23 million euros for green fund to support waste reduction;
o 90 percent reduction in bag use since introduction of levy; and
o Plastic bags as part of the litter stream reduced from 5 percent to .3
percent.
Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India:
o Fines on factories and stores for making and using plastic bags;
o Outdoor markets are not allowed to use plastic bags and instead
provide recycled paper bags; and
o Prohibits bags thinner than 20 microns (as does Delhi, Maharashtra and
Kerala) to discourage use.
South Africa:
o Government threat of a ban led to a plastic bag fee paid by
manufacturers and appearing on shopper's receipts.
Switzerland:
o Requires supermarkets to charge 15-20 cents per paper bag; and
o The majority of shoppers bring their own reusable bags.
Taiwan:
o Bans free distribution of plastic bags and food service ware by
government agencies, schools, restaurants, supermarkets and other
stores; and
o Ban has resulted in a 69 percent drop in the use of plastic products.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Require by local ordinance that:
… Supermarkets (as defined by the CA bottle bill) charge 17¢ for each
checkout bag (plastic or paper, offered to customers to carry their
merchandise upon purchase);
… Stores can keep half of the revenue to use for in-store collection
of packaging for recycling, discounted reusable bags, compostable bags
in produce and bulk aisles, selling compostable bags and food service
ware at a discount, and outreach on waste prevention and recycling
programs;
… Supermarkets provide an annual report to SF Environment
summarizing bag revenues and program expenditures with excess profits
going to the City; and
… Provisions would eventually apply to smaller markets, drug stores,
department stores, hardware stores, dry cleaners, newspapers and other
bag distributors, and additional bag types.
OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES
… www.myownbag.com/activism.html
… www.reusablebags.com/
… www.cwac.net/paper_industry/links.html
… www.forestethics.org/paper/
… news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1969997.stm
… www.deh.gov.au/industry/waste/plastic-bags/pubs/analysis-final.pdf
… www.earthresource.org/seaturtlesdontshop.htm
… www.algalita.org/initiatives.html
… www.mindfully.org/Plastic/plastic.htm
… www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/
… www.planetark.com/campaignspage.cfm/newsid/7/story.htm
end paper 1
Costs Associated With Paper and Plastic Bags
Background: Our calculations, based on a database of supermarkets in
San Francisco, and discussions with Safeway, are that 50,000,000 bags
are distributed annually through outlets defined as supermarkets in San
Francisco, and that 90% are plastic bags, and 10% are paper bags.
1. Norcal Recycling Contamination Costs: Bag contamination of the
recycling stream creates two problems at Norcal's processing facilities.
The first is the cost of removing bag contamination from recycling
equipment and machinery. Norcal costs for bag contamination includes the
cost of 12 classifiers to remove bags from the recycling stream, which
amounts to $494,000 a year; $100,000 annually to clear machinery jams
caused by bags, and $100,000 annually in reduced revenue on the sale of
recyclable materials due to bag contamination . Total annual cost $
694,000. This does not include the costs incurred by other recyclers.
This is 1.4 cents a bag.
2. Norcal Composting Contamination Costs: Removing plastic,
picking up litter and reduced revenue of the sale of compostable
materials due to bag contamination totals $400,000 annually . This is .8
cents a bag.
3. Collection and Disposal Costs: Based on the 2% of the waste
stream that is paper and plastic bags , the annual cost of collection
and disposal for bags alone is $3,600,000 . This is 7.2 cents a bag.
4. City Street Cleaning Costs: The annual costs for street
cleaning is $26,000,000, which includes both mechanical and manual
collection of litter from San Francisco's streets . 10% of the
amount spent on litter collection is spent on bag collection and
transportation. This amounts to $2,600,000 annually. This is 5.2
cents a bag.
5. City Future Landfill Liability Costs, Including Post-Closure:
With bags making up 2% of the waste stream, the annual cost for future
liability costs totals $1,200,000 annually based on an analysis of
potential remediation and processing of $85.50 a ton. This is 2.4
cents a bag.
Total in above 17.0 cents per bag.
The above costs do not include the following:
… Litter abatement efforts by the Housing Authority, Public Utilities
Commission, MUNI, Port, Real Estate, Recreation and Park Department, and
other San Francisco City and County agencies.
… Litter that the City cannot currently afford to clean up (e.g., bags
in trees, on overhead wires and in the Bay).
… Litter abatement efforts by the Presidio Trust, Park Service,
Coastal Commission, other agencies, private and non-profit
organizations, and citizens and volunteers along San Francisco's
coastline and within its city limits.
… Litter escaping from San Francisco's boundaries into other
jurisdictions and commons such as the Bay and Pacific Gyre.
… Flood control and damage, and sewer system maintenance and cleaning
performed by Public Works and the Public Utilities Commission.
… Establishing and operating programs to collect, process and market
for recycling the plastic and paper bags currently being landfilled,
including those collected as litter.
… Contribution toward exhausting our current landfill agreement and
requiring the City to enter into a new agreement sooner and at a higher
cost.
… Litter containment efforts at landfills receiving San Francisco
materials.
… Externalities such as pollution, climate change, biodiversity
decline, human health impacts, aesthetics, and other nuisances caused by
the production, distribution and disposal of bags.
… Accelerated depletion of petroleum and other resources making them
unavailable or more expensive for current and future generations.
… Death of marine animals, even leading to extinction for some
species, from bag suffocation or ingestion.
… Loss of fishing productivity.
… Suffocation of human infants (plastic bags are the second-leading
cause of suffocation among babies ).
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