As editor of San Jose, Calif., is the new ground zero for the battle over plastic bags, thanks to a big push by the group Save the Bay called ""The Bay vs. the Bag.
The effort got lots of attention yesterday, including an in-depth post by David Lewis (executive director of Save the Bay) on Huffington Post, plus a big story on the San Jose Mercury News Web site.
Lewis went straight for the jugular in the blog post, comparing the American Chemistry Council's efforts on behalf of plastic bags to the tobacco industry's support for cigarette smoking.
When the tobacco industry tried suing cities to stop restaurant smoking bans, it fueled public anger and resolve, not a resurgence of puffing. So it is striking to see the American Chemistry Council (ACC) using the same heavy handed tactics against cities trying to reduce or eliminate plastic bags, a dominant feature of urban trash and ocean pollution.From Phoenix to Philadelphia, and Seattle to Washington, D.C., the ACC has unleashed lawyers, lobbyists and PR flacks against local efforts to kick the plastic bag habit. But this attempt to protect industry profits could backfire, because it's based on myths that are flimsier than the bags themselves.
Likewise, the Mercury News frames the battle as a David vs. Goliath battle:
Fearing they are losing ground in the battle to eliminate litter-producing plastic bags, members of a leading Bay Area environmental group launched a counterattack Tuesday against a chief foe: the multibillion-dollar chemical industry.
If you had any doubt which side is wearing white hats, the story concludes with this quote from Save the Bay's Lewis: "There's a battle on -- it's the bay versus the bag. And we want to make sure the bay wins."
Lewis certainly won the PR war on Tuesday. I'm sure ACC will battle back with a timely letter to the editor. Will that be enough?
Comments (1)
Response to Don Loepp’s Blog Post
Plastics News
Thank you for drawing attention to an important environmental debate taking place in San Jose. The “battle,” as you call it, isn’t black and white. Plastic bag makers agree with Mr. Lewis that plastic bags don’t belong in our rivers, bays and oceans. However, we disagree with his notion that recycling isn’t part of the solution. Used bags can and should be recycled into valuable products.
Communities across the country are rejecting taxes and bans on plastic grocery bags in favor of the three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle. These are common sense, concrete steps to help keep our environment clean and litter-free. And they’re working.
According to the recent National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bag and Film Report, plastic film recovery (including plastic bags and product wraps) has seen an overall increase of 27 percent since 2005. The same report found that approximately 830 million pounds of post-consumer plastic bags and wraps were recovered in 2007. And we expect to see significant increases as states and localities adopt bag recycling requirements.
The few communities that have taxed or banned the use of plastic grocery bags found that their efforts to help the environment actually had the opposite effect.
Contrary to Mr. Lewis’ citation, after a 2002 tax on grocery bags in Ireland, consumers actually use 10 percent more plastic bags than they did in Ireland’s pre-tax days because they are now purchasing bags to replace those they carried their groceries. [Source: Packaging and Industrial Films Association, 2007]
San Francisco’s ban on plastic grocery bags caused shoppers to switch to paper bags, which, as Mr. Lewis stated, “require an enormous amount of energy and millions of trees to produce.” Specifically, paper bags require 70 percent more energy to manufacture, produce 50 percent more greenhouse gas emissions and create five times more waste than plastic bags.
And ironically, a before-and-after audit in San Francisco found that litter had not decreased, which was one of the stated purposes of the city’s ban. [See excerpt: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/blank.asp?CID=1106&DID=8448]
There are simple things we can all do to make sure plastic bags end up in the recycle bin and not as litter. Bring a reusable bag when you shop. If you choose plastic bags, reuse them at home (as 92 percent of Americans already do) as trash can liners, to pick up after your pets or for myriad other uses. And bring back any leftover bags to the store for recycling.
There are also a number of steps we have taken as an industry to contribute to a cleaner environment, including helping to create a nationwide recycling infrastructure (most recently, placing over 500 recycling bins on California beaches), educating children on marine debris, supporting a new national effort to fight litter, and developing more efficient packaging, among others.
But clearly there’s more to be done. Through widespread education and outreach to establish litter prevention as the cultural norm, coupled with increased recycling, together we can solve this problem. This approach makes a lot more sense than a tax or ban that won’t help the environment.
Because you offer readers a link to Mr. Lewis’ commentary on Huffington Post, we feel obligated to address some of the misinformation and misrepresentations that are a part of Mr. Lewis’ argument. ACC has not filed suit against communities seeking to implement policies to address plastic bags or used “heavy handed tactics.” To the contrary – our approach has been and continues to be constructive and proactive. We seek to partner with communities to implement effective programs that encourage consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle, and we’re supporting statewide legislation that would promote the use of recycled content in plastic bags.
ACC’s Progressive Bag Affiliates represents over 80 percent of plastic bag manufacturing nationwide, and is dedicated to educating consumers and lawmakers that plastic bags are fully recyclable and that plastic bag recycling is a sound option for the environment and the economy. They have no affiliation with the Save The Plastic Bag group nor has ACC been a party to litigation filed by SaveThePlasticBags.com.
Shari Jackson
Director, Progressive Bag Affiliates
American Chemistry Council
Posted by Shari Jackson | April 21, 2009 7:36 PM
Posted on April 21, 2009 19:36