The recently-announced planned ban on plastic shopping bags in Los Angeles is a landmark decision for the bag’s opponents. With Wednesday’s decision, L.A. becomes the largest U.S. city — and just the latest in a growing number of metropolitan areas worldwide — that are either banning or taxing the use of plastic bags.
The ripple effect of this news is being felt across a wide spectrum of industries.
Plastic bag manufacturers are still working out their collective response. “Understanding and conveying the business impact is a little premature,” said Donna Dempsey, spokesperson for the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a group representing the five largest plastic bag manufacturers in the U.S. and about 4,700 workers nationwide.
The alliance estimates that more than 30,000 American manufacturing jobs in 349 plants could be affected by proposed ordinances to ban and tax plastic bags. APBA also notes the U.S. is the world leader in recycling plastic bags and film – which in turn fuels green technologies and jobs.
Source: GreenBiz.com
By Bruce Kennedy