SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — California’s new plastic bag law went into effect on January 1. It forbids any business from giving away or selling plastic bags, even those deemed “recyclable.”
We found no shortage of those so-called “reusable,” thick plastic bags in San Francisco’s Mission District, the same heavy-duty bags the state banned just two months ago.
Every business owner we spoke to told us they knew of the state law.
“Yes, I know. We got a notice about the plastic bags,” said Pablo Moran, owner of La Espiga de Oro restaurant.
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But his business was still using the bags because he had purchased them before the state ban.
“We know. We’re not buying anymore plastic, we’re going to do paper now,” he assured us.
The owner of Casa Lucas said he too was stuck with thousands of plastic bags and wanted to get rid of them first before moving on to paper.
The La Palma store has already shifted to paper bags.
The butcher shop nearby was transitioning and letting customers know they were moving to paper, costing 25 cents per bag.
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Mariano Castro says he’s tired of the back and forth between plastic and paper. “I don’t really think about it. I just bring my own bags,” said Castro.
But what those business owners do not know is that in San Francisco, they are not subject to the new law.
Confused? So were we.
We asked the enforcing agency, the San Francisco Environment Department, to explain.
“It is a really unique situation we find ourselves in. When the state of California passes a new law, it preempts local law. That’s not how this was written,” explained Joseph Piasecki, spokesperson for that department.
Local law says any city or county that passed its own plastic bag ordinance before 2014 gets to keep it intact. Which means San Francisco can still use those heavy plastic bags that claim to be recyclable.
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In other words, the plastic industry found a loophole allowing manufacturers to label those heavy plastic bags as “recyclable.”
As a result, 80% of Bay Area cities can continue to use them. But those cities without a prior ordinance have to follow state law.
Following an investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the state sued seven manufacturers, stating, “Despite the manufacturers’ claims and widespread consumer belief, these plastic bags do not, in fact, appear to generally be recyclable.”
What would it take for San Francisco to align with state law?
“It would be a legislative process with the board. They would probably require us to amend what we currently have,” said Piasecki.
MORE: Plastic bags are banned again in California as COVID-19 order expires
At least one supervisor told us he’s not ready to put more pressure on small businesses.
“Especially not as we have an economic recovery under way. It feels to me like our economic recovery is fragile. Let’s make sure we’re protecting that,” said San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey.
It’s not just businesses in the Mission District. We found plastic bags being used all over the city. In Chinatown, most businesses are still using the heavy plastic bags which, as we know now, are allowed. But while we saw more people bringing their own cloth bags, much to our surprise, a lot of customers were using the single-use flimsy bags that were banned in San Francisco in 2007.
So, if eliminating plastic bags is better for the environment, why isn’t San Francisco doing more to phase them out?
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