Good news – County commission proposes fee on paper bags, and a ban on plastic

From the Mercury News:

In a surprising reversal of a decision made less than two months ago, a
Santa Clara County commission is recommending an all-out ban on plastic shopping
bags and a fee on paper bags.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission, made up of elected leaders
from around the county, plans to ask county supervisors and all 15 cities to
adopt the proposal for grocers and other retailers, with an exemption for
nonprofit “reuse” stores such as Goodwill.

I attended the previous meeting and was disappointed at the slow pace, so this is an excellent step. The Committee has supported a fee on both paper and plastic bags – we haven’t called for a ban on plastic, but we don’t oppose one either.

As the article says, this is just advisory, but let’s hope the cities move forward. As always, San Jose is the 800-pound gorilla in terms of impact, so we’ll be watching carefully.

-Brian

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