BILL ANALYSIS
SB 228
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 228
AUTHOR: DeSaulnier
AMENDED: April 13, 2009
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: May 4, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Randy Pestor
SUBJECT : PLASTIC BAGS
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the California Integrated Waste Management
Act of 1989:
1) Defines American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
"Standards for Compostable Plastics" and "Standard
Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in
the Marine Environment." (Public Resources Code 42356).
2) Prohibits a person from selling a plastic bag in this state
with the term "compostable" or "marine biodegradable"
unless the bag meets the applicable ASTM standard
specification (#1 above). (42357).
3) Sets procedures for the California Integrated Waste
Management Board (IWMB) to review a new ASTM standard
specification or other standard developed by another
entity. (42356.1).
This bill :
1) Requires a manufacturer of a compostable plastic or marine
biodegradable bag meeting the ASTM standard to ensure that
the bag is readily and easily identifiable from other
plastic bags.
2) Defines "readily and easily identifiable" as being: a)
labeled with a recognized certification logo; and b) a
uniform green color bag labeled with the word "compostable"
on one side of the bag at least 1" in height, or labeled
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with the word "compostable" on both sides of the bag
meeting certain requirements.
3) Prohibits a compostable bag sold in this state from
displaying a chasing arrow resin identification code or
recycling type of symbol in any form.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "The use of
compostable bags is increasing, leading local governments
to establish organics separation and composting.
Currently, there is no way to visibly tell the difference
between compostable, marine degradable, and 'virgin'
plastic bags." The author notes that virgin plastic bags,
also known as conventional bags not made of recycled
material and made of first time use plastic pellets, get
into the compost stream and contaminate the compost leading
to higher processing costs.
According to the author, "This bill seeks to remedy this by
requiring bags that meet the compostable and marine
degradable standards as set in current law . . . to be
readily and easily identifiable for the purposes of
separating these bags from 'virgin' plastic bags in the
recycling and composting streams."
2) Related requirements and legislation . SB 951 (Hart)
Chapter 1076, Statutes of 1993, enacted the Plastic Trash
Bag Law to require recycled plastic postconsumer material
in certain types of plastic trash bags. SB 698 (Rainey)
Chapter 44, Statutes of 1998, revised various procedures
relating to these provisions to enable postconsumer
materials to be in other plastic products of the
manufacturer. In response to concerns about manufacturers
that violate the law, SB 698 added a debarment provision
that made these violators ineligible for state contract
awards until they comply with the requirements and
prohibits the state from soliciting offers from, or
awarding contracts to, those firms. SB 698 also required
the IWMB to publish a list of violators.
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SB 1749 (Karnette) Chapter 619, Statutes of 2004, prohibited
persons from selling a plastic bag labeled as
"compostable," "biodegradable," "degradable," or any form
of those terms, unless the plastic bag meets certain
requirements. AB 1023 (DeSaulnier) Chapter 143, Statutes
of 2007, exempts these bags from the Plastic Trash Bag Law.
AB 2147 (Harman) Chapter 349, Statutes of 2006, prohibited
persons from selling plastic food and beverage containers
labeled as "compostable," "biodegradable," "degradable," or
any form of those terms, unless the containers meet certain
requirements.
AB 2071 (Karnette) Chapter 570, Statutes of 2008, set
penalties for violations of the plastic bag and food
container requirements.
AB 1972 (DeSaulnier) Chapter 436, Statutes of 2008,
specifically defined the ASTM standard for biodegradable
and compostable bags, and plastic food and beverage
containers; revised the prohibited terms; and set IWMB
procedures for reviewing new standards.
3) Outstanding issues . Current law requires a rigid plastic
bottle or container to be labeled with a code that
indicates the resin used to produce the rigid plastic
bottle or container. SB 228 includes two requirements,
with the second requirement offering two alternative
methods of compliance for compostable bags - which is not
as clear as resin codes for plastic bottles or containers.
Four issues should be addressed.
First, this bill requires a "recognized certification label",
such as that of the Biodegradable Products Institute logo,
as meeting the ASTM standards. However, while the
Institute certifies a product as meeting ASTM D6400, it
does not certify ASTM D7081. Moreover, it may not be
appropriate to rely on an Institute composed of resin
suppliers and biodegradable product manufacturers and
distributors to certify products. Instead, it may be more
appropriate to: a) establish a particular code or logo;
and b) require a state entity, such as the IWMB, to verify
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that a product meets a particular standard after the
product has been certified.
Second, this bill also requires a label with the word
"compostable" at least 1" in height on one side of the bag
if the bag is a uniform green color, or the word
"compostable" at least 1" in height with certain coloring
on two sides of the bag. Letters at least 1" in height may
not fit on all sizes of plastic bags.
Third, SB 228 applies the new labeling requirements to bags
meeting the ASTM standard specified by definition under
current law. Amendments are needed to ensure labeling
requirements also apply to new standards that may be
adopted by the IWMB.
Finally, if a recycling code is to be prohibited on a
compostable plastic bag, it may be appropriate to also
prohibit the code on a marine degradable bag.
SOURCE : Biodegradable Products Institute
SUPPORT : California Film Extruders & Converters
Association, Heritage Bag Company, Metabolix,
Inc.
OPPOSITION : None on file