Environmental Impacts of Single Use Plastic Bags  Consumed in extremely high volumes (>23 million per year in SM)  Produced from non-renewable resources  Designed to be disposable  Difficult to recycle  Significant and very visible component of litter  Do not biodegrade in the environment  Represent a significant hazard to marine animals and birds

Single Use Alternatives to Plastic Bags: Paper Bags  Pros  Not a significant component of marine pollution or litter  Made from renewable resources  Readily recyclable  Currently are widely available and used  Cons  More expensive than plastic bags  Environmental impacts related to production and transport are significant

Single Use Alternatives to Plastic Bags: Biodegradable Plastic Bags  Pros  Made from renewable resources  Compostable  Cons  More expensive than plastic or paper bags and not as widely available  Present many of the same litter and marine environment problems as plastic bags  Can contaminate plastic recycling waste streams  Manufacturing is somewhat resource intensive

Preferred Alternative: Reusable Bags From an overall environmental and economic perspective, the best alternative to single use bags is to make a major shift to reusable bags. Over their lifetime, reusable bags require much lower resource inputs to manufacture than the equivalent amount of any of the single use bags, and their widespread use would result in significant reductions in litter and impacts to the marine environment

Policy Options to Address Impacts of Plastic Bags 1.Retailer-led programs to reduce bag use and promote recycling of bags 2.Plastic bag fees or taxes 3.Plastic bag bans

Policy Options: Retailer-Led Programs  Demonstrably the least effective at reducing the use of single use plastic bags  San Francisco (2006): Failure of voluntary program resulted in mandatory ban of plastic bags in 2007  Australia (2002): Nationwide voluntary program costing $50 million resulted in moderate increase in recycling rates but had no effect on reducing litter and little positive influence on consumer behavior

Policy Options: Plastic Bag Fees or Taxes  Proven very effective at significantly reducing plastic bag consumption  Byron Bay, Australia: 83% reduction  IKEA: 95% - 97% reduction  Republic of Ireland: 95% reduction  This option has been prohibited in California by AB 2449

Policy Options: Plastic Bag Ban Most effective way to reduce the environmental impacts related to single use plastic bags is to ban their use in Santa Monica and promote the use of reusable carryout bags

Recommendations  Direct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance banning the use single use plastic carryout bags distributed at the point of sale  Should allow paper bags meeting certain criteria to be used as alternative  Should not allow biodegradable plastic bags  Should not apply to “produce” bags  Should apply to all retail stores in Santa Monica, regardless of size  Should require all affected stores to provide reusable bags for sale  Provide staff with direction on ETF recommendation regarding imposing a fee on single use paper bags