Los Angeles explores ban on paper and plastic bags

Sept. 8 -- A City Council member in Los Angeles has asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would ban single use bags in the second largest city in the country.

The proposal would outlaw both plastic carryout bags and single-use paper bags. The measure was brought forward by council member Paul Koretz and was sent to a committee on energy and the environment.

According to Koretz´s proposal, an estimated 2.3 billion single-use plastic carryout bags and 400 million single-use paper bags are used in the city annually. About 5% of the plastic bags and about 21% of paper bags are recycled, the proposal said.

California law prohibits communities from implementing a point-of-sale fee on single-use plastic bags, and efforts on the state level to ban single-use bags have failed.

The ban would not include produce bags or product bags, according to the proposal.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@crain.com or 313-446-6780.

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