Plastic Bag Manufacturers and Recyclers Form Responsible Recycling Alliance
June 27 2024 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Group will promote sustainability and recycling
to lower carbon emissions, minimize wasteful energy and water use,
and keep commonly-used plastic bags out of landfills
A coalition of plastic film recyclers and reusable bag
manufacturers today launched the Responsible Recycling Alliance
(RRA), a coalition organized to help Californians across the state
reduce, reuse, and recycle as a long-term environmental solution to
plastic waste.
The RRA’s founding members – EFS Plastics, Merlin Plastics, and
PreZero US – oppose AB 2236 and SB 1053, two bills pending in the
State Legislature that would eliminate the convenient reusable
plastic film grocery bags that millions of Californians use – and
reuse – every day. They support instead shifting to the plastics
industry responsibility for recycling reusable plastic film grocery
bags by integrating them into the Plastic Pollution Prevention and
Packaging Producer Responsibility Program created in 2022 by SB
54.
“AB 2236 and SB 1053 do not result in a more environmentally
friendly option. We all share a common goal to protect the
environment, and while I am certain that the proponents of these
bills have the best of intentions, as written this legislation
would roll back environmental gains, make shopping more expensive
for low-income Californians, eliminate jobs across California, and
make it more difficult for SB 54 to succeed in improving plastic
film recycling in the state,” Roxanne Spiekerman, Vice President of
Public Affairs for PreZero US, said on behalf of the RRA.
Importantly, reusable plastic film grocery bags are made in
California, contain at least 40% recycled post-consumer content
(PCR), are used multiple times, and can be recycled into new bags
and other materials. They represent a sustainable and circular
local solution.
Ms. Spiekerman added: “The proposed ban on reusable plastic film
grocery bags would force Californians to choose between two
options, both of which carry with them negative environmental
challenges. The canvas and sewn poly-woven or non-woven
polypropylene bags are not recyclable by any known method in the
U.S., contain zero post-consumer content, and are typically
imported from overseas. Similarly, paper bags consume more water
and energy during production and recycling than reusable plastic
film grocery bags, resulting in a bigger carbon footprint, they are
not intended to be reused, and consumers will have to pay more for
them.”
RRA strongly advocates for the addition of reusable plastic film
grocery bags into SB 54 as the surest path to achieve the right
long-term solution for recycling in California. Doing so will:
- Provide an easy-to-use way for Californians to collect the
plastics they encounter every day – from dry cleaning bags to bread
wrappers to so many others that are not included in curbside
recycling – for eventual deposit in large collection bins providing
the necessary volume to support plastic film recycling.
- Protect middle- and lower-income Californians – who are among
the most prevalent users of 10 cent plastic bags – from having to
pay more at a time when groceries are already stretching family
budgets. In fact, 77% of purchasers of these bags have annual
incomes of less than $150,000, and 52% have incomes of less than
$80,000.
- Preserve thousands of jobs. The reusable plastic film grocery
bag manufacturing and recycling industry employs thousands of
hard-working Americans in California and across the country, and AB
2236 and SB 1053 directly threatens those jobs, not to mention all
the related jobs they support, such as local restaurants and other
small businesses. California’s reusable plastic film grocery bag
manufacturers cannot simply switch to making poly-woven and
non-woven bags with stitched handles or paper bags.
- Pledge that California and its citizens remain the envy of the
nation for their environmental stewardship.
“We’re committed to the best approaches that are supported by
research and backed by science,” Ms. Spiekerman continued.
“Californians have earned the right to the best solution that’s
available. We can accomplish our shared goals of great product
circularity in an environmentally responsible manner and it’s
important to note that plastic film bag producers, as defined by SB
54, are the ones who will pay to fund the plastics collection
infrastructure and the system wide improvements necessary to ensure
that plastic film is recycled.”
The RRA’s members are:
- EFS Plastics, a leading player in that plastics recycling
industry that converts household waste plastics into high-quality,
clean, reprocessed resins.
- Merlin Plastics, a leading recycler and processor of
post-consumer and post-industrial plastic container packaging.
- PreZero US, the U.S. arm of a leading environmental service
provider in Europe and North America that provides waste disposal,
sorting, processing and recycling services as well as a reusable
plastic film bag manufacturer.
To learn more about AB 2236 and SB 1053 and their harmful
impacts on California and the environment, please visit
Responsible-Recycling.org.
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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