Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council applauded the California State Assembly for passing SB 777 (Allen), which will provide much-needed transparency and accountability on plastic bag surcharge allocations, as required in SB 270 (Padilla – 2014). SB 777 requires retail establishments that sell plastic bags to submit annual aggregated reporting to CalRecycle specifying the actual costs for implementing the provisions of SB 270, actual costs for providing the reusable bags, costs associated with a store’s educational materials or educational campaigns encouraging the use of reusable grocery bags, and costs associated with recycling.
Almost 10 years ago, California passed SB 270 (Padilla), preventing retail establishments from providing single-use plastic bags in order to help protect California’s beaches, parks and the ocean from pollution. The bill clearly states that the stores that provide the bags may keep the funds collected in order to cover the costs of providing the bags, complying with the bag ban, or encouraging the use of reusable grocery bags through educational materials or an educational campaign. However, there is no transparency around how that money is being spent.
“SB 777 simply shines a light on how customers’ dollars are being spent when they purchase plastic bags at the grocery store,” said Kathy Finn, president, UFCW Local 770. “UFCW members applaud the Assembly for ensuring the spirit of SB 270 is upheld and encourage the Governor to sign this bill into law.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2023
Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]