Ban on Plastic Bags Broadened in San Francisco
San Francisco’s unique plastic bag ban extended Tuesday to include pharmacies operating five or more locations in the city, according to NBC.
The ordinance went into effect in November, first banning grocery stores from giving customers non-biodegradable plastic bags. The stores must use recyclable paper bags, reusable bags, or bio-plastic bags made of corn or potato starch.
Now the ban also applies to multiple-location pharmacies such as Walgreens, Longs and Rite Aid.
According to the article, San Francisco’s ban is the first of its kind in the country.
To learn where you can recycle plastic bags in your area, use Earth 911’s recycling locator.
oxobio
posted on May 23rd, 2008 at 12:31 am
San Francisco legislators have been misled by commercial lobbyists into a big mistake by restricting biodegradable plastics to those made from crops which meet ASTM 6400.
The same lobbyists are now trying to extend this mistake nationwide. Don’t let them get away with it!
Plastics made from crops, are up to 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough for use in high-speed machinery, and they emit methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) in landfill. Also, it is wrong to use land, water and fertilisers to grow crops for bioplastics and biofuels, which drives up the cost of food for the poorest people. See The Guardian 26th April 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/26/waste.pollution?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
They are not really “renewable” either. Just consider the hydrocarbons burned by machines which clear the land, plough the land, make the fertilisers and pesticides, transport them to the farm, sow the seeds, spray the crops, etc etc.
Compostability of plastics is an irrelevance anyway, because not only are compostable plastics far too expensive for everyday use, – there are very few industrial composting facilities. Also, as it is difficult and expensive to separate compostable plastics from other plastics, many industrial composters do not want plastic of any kind in their feedstock.
Compostable plastics will damage the recycling process if they get into in a normal plastic recycling waste stream
Home composting of plastic packaging is dangerous and should not be encouraged, as it is often contaminated with meat, fish, or poultry residues, and temperatures do not rise high enough to kill the pathogens.
Land and water are also required to grow cotton or jute to make durable bags. These rapidly become unhygienic if a tomato is squashed or milk is spilled, and become a durable form of litter, but they can be made from washable oxo-bio plastic to last up to 5 years.
SF should allow oxo-bio plastic.
Ordinary plastic and recycled plastic can now be made oxo-biodegradable. (see http://www.biodeg.org)
This is done by including d2w additive (see http://www.degradable.net) which makes it degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues. Oxo-bio can be tested according to American Standard 6954, and is made from a by-product of oil refining which used to be wasted, so nobody is importing extra oil to make it.
There is little or no additional cost as it can be made by the same machines as ordinary plastic..
Recycled plastics are OK, but they are not degradable and will still lie around in the environment for decades. They too should be made oxo-biodegradable.
jamesmahon
posted on May 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
i think that is really a good idea to ban plastic bags and use reuseable ones because then there can be less oil spills, less animals geting killed because they sufacate and so there wont be as less trash in san fran.
raptor235
posted on May 26th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Living a greener life is getting better every single day… I’m amazed to think just 3-4 years ago and compare it to now… the green movement has definitly exploded and sites like this are definitly a huge reason why…
Sharing green tips lets exposes people to a lot of different things they can try to do their part for the environment :) I’ll definitly will be visiting more often… We also have a list of green tips (http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/category/daily-green-tips/) checked them out if you can and remember spread the word we’re defnitly on the right track lets just hope we’re not too late.
bioplast
posted on May 29th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Now there is a solution and much better alternative to levying, recycling and reusable canvas grocery bags for those who forgets their canvas bag at home or in the car which is called “Bioplast Biodegradable Plastics.”
Oxo is degradable and NOT biodegradable as per EN 13432:2000/ISO 14855 standards. Degradable bags, which are partly breakdown however not completely. The result of this action is the remains of the plastic shreds, which then become harmful to the environment. A biodegradable bag on the other hand completely disappears and is compostable, hence enhancing the nutritive value of the remaining soil.
Bioplast is a manufacturing company of BIOPLAST Branded Biodegradable Garbage Bags and Fridge Bags for the household markets and for the industry as well as Biodegradable Carrier Bags and Vegy Bags for the retail sector using their own patented unique formula of bacteria enzyme base substrate as against starch base as used by other manufacturers world over which is not as strong or durable as polymer (plastic) bags and has a cost addition of 300%-400%. Also starch based products can comprise of genetically modified crops (GM Crops) which contains PLA the substitutes can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites and releases Methane which is 23 times more damaging than the C02 that Al and Goreites have demonized and cannot be recycled in Britain. See The Guardian reported on Saturday on “Corn starch based material can damage the environment”;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/26/waste.pollution
Bioplast is the only Biodegradable technology in the world using bacteria enzyme base substrate which is 100% biodegradable within 6 months after disposal as per ASTM-D 5988-1996 and EN 13432:2000/ISO 14855 standards with the lowest cost addition.
Bioplast biodegradable products are also compostable and hence enhancing the nutritive value of the remaining soil. All the ingredients of Bioplast biodegradable plastic products are food grade and non-toxic in nature therefore suitable to be in contact with food products.
Bioplast is using nature to solve a man made problem.
Bioplast believes that this great innovation will go a long way in preserving the ecological balance around the world which has brought intelligent and affordable solution to the disposal of polyethylene plastic waste problem worldwide.
Now the local and central Governments must ban all non-biodegradable plastic bags and force all the retailers to use ONLY 100% Biodegradable bags in their stores as an alternative to reusable canvas bags which will be the evidence of their sincere concern for the environment and their commitment to tackling the considerable problem of plastic bag waste and the pollution.
“What will you tell your children? Were you part of the Problem or part of the Solution?”
http://www.bioplast.com.tr
PaulM
posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Reply to BioPlast:
I have been following your endless blog postings of your claims, why are you so desperate for sales? I think I know why!
Your ’so called’ Bioplast in NOT a Bioplastic, it is NOT certified as biodegradable OR compostable by any of the authorities(OK Compost, BPI, DIN CERTCO) that issue the specifications you claim, in fact the ONLY people that have ‘tested’ your products are YOU!!
Your BioPlast is made from FOSSIL FUEL based plastic, producing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gasses worldwide in manufacturing.
Plastics are proven to attract high levels of poisonous chemicals, and your BioPlast will break down into small particles that after collecting poisonous chemicals, could be taken up by the food chain and poison the eco-system, right up to us.
Your BioPlast is ADDING to greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, these are the cause of climate change that is linked to increasing crop failures.
The answer is NOT Mr BioPLast and his enzymes !!
The answer is plant based plastics ;)
Plant based plastics ARE biodegradable and compostable(many compostable at home) and certified as such.
Plant based plastics REDUCE greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as the plants grow. Growing more plants for plastic would REDUCE greenhouse gases and help reverse climate change AND crop failures.
One study shows that “every pound of soy-based polymers produced instead of petroleum-based removes 2.1 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere”.
Another study shows that in manufacture, plant based plastics use 30% less energy and create just 25% of the greenhouse gases that fossil fuel plastics do. Also starch based plastics consume 2190 kg of GHG per tonne of plastic whilst the plants are growing.
If you want plant based plastic bags, made from potato and corn starch, and manufactured in the UK,(and cheaper than Tesco or Sainsburys!) head to:
http://www.comp-bio.co.uk
For the plant based plastic just go to:
http://www.stanelcoplc.com
tinpigeon
posted on July 26th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Plastic Bags
I’d like to know why thicker plastic bags which are now being used in place of the previous thinner ones. I asked a Walgreen’s cashier at Geary/18th about this, and he said the new thick ones are ‘reusable and recyclable.’ -NEWSFLASH- The thinner ones are reusable and recyclable, too!
Why has this initiative to eliminate plastic bags resulted in exacerbating the situation? Are the thick ones made with biodegradable cornstarch, or are they now accepted in curbside recycling? I’d like to know.
The DeLano’s on Geary/27th has a sign at the register, touting the green aspects of their paper bags, and the cornstarch-based biodegradable plastic bags. When I asked the cashier about the cornstarch in the thicker plastic bags, he said “what do you mean ‘cornstarch’? These are just regular plastic.”
What’s really going on here?
Jon
posted on November 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Ban them all!
Biodegradable or not, they are wasteful and costly to the environment to produce and use.
These oxo-biodegradable bags might sound nice, but they are for suckers and just redirecting the problem. Even if they are only made from a bi-product of oil, they still rely on oil and in no way can be better than a sustainable, reusable alternative!