APR encourages California retailers to use reusable plastic bags

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington, has released a statement encouraging retailers in California to continue offering compliant reusable plastic bags. The statement is in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-54-20, which in part temporarily suspends enforcement of the law that bans distribution of single-use plastic bags by specified retailers. 

The APR says the order does not ban or limit the use of reusable plastic bags nor require retailers to stop using the reusable bags produced by APR members.

The association says its members “are operating to serve Californians and our country, and safety always comes first.  Our members follow the guidelines set by the state of California, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other relevant state and federal agencies.”

As of Jan. 1, reusable plastic bags sold in the state must contain a minimum of 40 percent postconsumer recycled material.

Sufficient postconsumer resin (PCR) is available for APR members to continue to produce reusable bags, and no safety concerns surround the use of PCR in reusable bags as long as California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, guidelines for consumers using their own bags are followed, the APR says.

According to this guidance, retail employees should not touch or place groceries in customer-brought bags; ask customers to leave their own bags in the shopping cart; and ask customers to bag their own groceries.

APR encourages retailers to continue to use compliant reusable bags. Grocery stores are allowed to provide a reusable bag at no charge under the provisions of the executive order, the association says, and to provide relief when possible to the consumer for the bag cost.

The executive order does not interfere with local bans or restrictions on the use of single-use bags implemented prior to 2015.