10 Draft Integrated Waste Management Plan - City Council - City of ...

2012 Davis Integrated Waste Management Plan
Since plastic bags do not significantly contribute to the amount of waste going to the landfill, a carryout bag
ordinance is not a priority item to achieve the City’s 2020 waste reduction target.
Banning plastic bags may assist in reducing litter, but only minimally. A large percentage of storm water from
the streets in Davis (and plastic bags that are swept up in the storm water) pass though screens and detention
ponds where plastic bags are removed from the water before it flows to the Willow Slough Bypass or Yolo
Bypass. Storm drain inlets and the detention ponds themselves are cleaned regularly. Recycling Program staff
rarely receives complaints from street crews regarding plastic bag litter.
Plastic bags at the landfill are blown about by the wind and can contribute to litter. The landfill uses screens to
catch litter that is blown by the wind, but some litter escapes these screens. The City of Davis is only one
contributor to the material at the landfill. Banning bags in Davis will not alleviate the bag problem at the YCCL
unless all the other cities adopt similar laws. At this point in time, none of the other cities in Yolo County, nor
the County itself, are pursuing a carryout bag ordinance.
Plastic bags are also an issue for DWR, where they are a litter issue and a nuisance at their recycling facility.
DWR’s customers live in and around Davis, banning plastic bags may have a significant impact in litter
reduction for DWR.
One of the concerns with banning plastic bags and not paper bags is the potential increase in the amount of
paper bags being used, and the possible increase in paper bags going into the landfill. In the City of Manhattan
Beach vs. Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, the Court report stated:
On this record, it is undisputed that the manufacture, transportation, recycling, and landfill disposal of
paper bags entail more negative environmental consequences than do the same aspects of the plastic
bag “life cycle.”
Since a paper bag weighs more than a plastic bag, the effect of paper bags on the waste stream is more
substantial.
Paper bags are accepted for recycling curbside and in all DWR recycling bins. In Davis, plastic bags can only
be recycled at grocery stores. This should make it more likely that paper bags will be recycled instead of
landfilled.
DRAFT
Plastic bags are not accepted by DWR for recycling. A recycling option does exist however—AB 2449 requires
large grocery stores and pharmacies to take back plastic bags for recycling, so residents can bring their plastic
bags back to the store for recycling. However, this system hasn’t been very effective. According to CAW, in
California, 14 billion plastic bags are distributed annually, and only 3% are recycled. AB 2449 requires grocery
stores to take back plastic bags for recycling, but the law sunsets at the end of 2012.
The ending of AB 2449 creates a potential recycling challenge, but may create an opportunity for future bag
bans. AB 2449 expressly disallowed charging a fee for plastic bags, while allowing one for paper. Once AB
2449 ends, it would be possible to rewrite the City’s draft ordinance to allow single-use plastic bags as long as
stores charge a fee, as is required for paper bags under the current draft ordinance. This may eliminate some of
the opposition to the draft ordinance that the City encountered as the draft was prepared.
A bill was introduced (AB 298) that would have extended the plastic bag recycling provisions of 2449 while
limiting the use of plastic and paper carryout bags statewide (see Appendix H for the full text of this bill).
However, the bill did not pass the senate.
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