Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Local Plastic Bag Bans
The California Supreme Court today ruled that the City of Manhattan Beach can enforce a local ordinance banning plastic bags in that city.

The ruling ends a challenge funded by plastic bag manufacturers and paves the way for local governments throughout California to move immediately to adopt ordinances banning plastic bags.

"This is an important victory for the environment and common sense," said Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste. "The Plastics industry attempted to exploit California's Environmental Quality Act in order to delay an end to polluting plastic bags. We're pleased that the court shut them down."

The court's unanimous decision in Save the Plastic Bag Coalition (STPBC) vs. City of Manhattan Beach denies the industry's claim that a city must undertake a costly Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prior to adopting ordinances with obvious environmental benefits.

With efforts to ban plastic bags statewide temporarily stalled, the court's decision will open the opportunity to local governments in California to take on plastic bags. “Plastic grocery bags become plastic ocean pollution,” said Assembly Member Julia Brownley. “While I will continue to pursue a statewide ban on plastic bags, the State Supreme Court has said no to the plastics industry and paved the way for local governments to enact their own local bans.”

Read the Rest of this Story>>

Legislative Update
This is the last week before the legislature leaves for its month-long summer recess, and our priority recycling legislation continues to move through the process. See our website for an update on the all the legislation we are tracking.

In the Home Stretch
AB 818 (Blumenfield), the Renters’ Right to Recycle Act, is set to be voted on by the full Senate today where it is expected to pass.

Other Priority Legislation
AB 341 (Chesbro), which requires apartment and business recycling and lays out a bold framework for significantly reducing waste statewide, passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and will be headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee after the summer recess.

AB 1149 (Gordon and Wieckowski), which invests in California-based enterprises that process and manufacture products that use recycled plastic, and AB 960 (Lowenthal), which extends the state's restriction on the export of e-waste, were both placed on the Senate Appropriations “Suspense” File to be heard after the break.

CAW’s 34th Annual Birthday Bash
CAW will be celebrating its 34th year of Recycling Policy Success. If you have attended this event in the past, you know that it is an excellent opportunity to meet and mingle with California's recycling leadership from the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Among those attending will be members of the Legislature, the Administration, representatives of private sector recycling enterprises, as well as the environmental community.

Stay tuned as we announce our Legislators of the Year for 2011.

This year we will be holding the event at the Citizen Hotel’s 7th Floor Metro Terrace with a sweeping view of the Capitol Dome and Downtown Sacramento. The reception will be held Tuesday, August 30th starting 5:30 p.m.

If you or your Organization would be interested in becoming a sponsor of this event, please contact our office at (916) 443-5422 or contact us via email. For more information, visit our website at http://www.cawrecycles.org/caw_birthday/11

To read an archived Recycling Advocate, click here: