Plastic bags are a true menace to our ecosystems and our waste diversion goals. Barely recyclable, almost all of the 400 plastic bags used per second in the state are discarded. Once discarded, they either enter our landfills or our marine ecosystem.

People think of plastic bags as being free. Instead, they actually cost taxpayers millions every year.

US EPA estimates that west coast cities spend $13 per resident to keep litter from ending up in our oceans as marine pollution. For California, the overall cost to protect our waters from litter is over $412 million each year--with between 8% to 25% attributable to plastic bags alone according to clean up data from San Jose and Los Angeles County.

Based on this information, an estimated 33 million to 103 million dollars is spent each year to manage plastic bag litter in our state.

Additionally, Southern California cities have spent in excess of $1.7 billion in
meeting Total Maximum Daily Loads for trashed in impaired waterways.

Moreover cities and recyclers spend exorbitant amounts of time and money removing plastic bags from their recyclables stream, where bags jam machinery and add to the manual labor costs of recycling. San Jose estimated an annual loss of $1 million each year due to plastic bag related repairs in their facilities. And in early 2013, it was reported that at least one recycling facility in Sacramento shut down six times a day to remove bags from their machines.

These bags also have a negative impact on our 40 billion dollar based ocean economy. 267 species have been scientifically documented to be adversely affected by plastic marine debris. Plastic bags are considered especially dangerous to sea turtles, who may mistake them for jellyfish, a main food source. Plastic bags that enter our marine environment eventually break down into small fragments.

Numerous recent international, national, state and local reports have called for the banning or drastic reduction of plastic bags due to their environmental damage. Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environmental Program, recently said "there is simply zero justification for manufacturing [plastic bags] any more, anywhere."

More about Plastic Bags:

• US EA West Coast Communties' Costs for Managing Marine Debris (2012)
• California Ocean Protection Council Marine Debris Implementation Plan
• UN Environmental Program Marine Litter Report
• Life Cycle Analysis of Reusable and Single-Use Plastic Bags in CA (Jan 2011)
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography Study on Increased Oceanic Microplastic Debris (May 2012)
• Seattle Plastic Litter Study (Vol. 1) (Vol. 2)
• California Coastal Commission and Algalita Marine Research Foundation Marine Litter Report
• Algalita Marine Research Foundation Plastic Debris Report