RETAILERS AVOID 'BAG TAX' WITH RECYCLING AGREEMENT

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

SAN FRANCISCO -- Supermarket operators here have signed a letter of agreement to join forces with the city to reduce by 10 million the number of grocery bags entering the waste stream by the end of 2006, while also encouraging bag reuse and recycling.

The agreement heads off a proposal by the city to impose a 17-cent tax on each bag used -- at least as long as "parties to this agreement continue to demonstrate meaningful progress toward increased reduction in consumption of checkout bags and recycling of these bags," the agreement said. Terms of the agreement will be reviewed at the end of 2006.

The city of Los Angeles has approved a similar proposal to establish citywide retail and curbside recycling locations, though the effort has not been implemented yet; and the state of Rhode Island implemented a program in September to collect and recycle plastic grocery bags. According to the Rhode Island Food Dealers Association, the plastic collected at stores is being trucked to a recycling facility operated by the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp., a quasi-public agency responsible for managing the state's solid waste, where it is being baled and sold to a plastic film re-manufacturer.

The San Francisco agreement was signed Nov. 2 by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the city's Department of Environment and representatives of Albertsons, Safeway, three Kroger-owned chains (Bell Markets, Cala Foods and FoodsCo), Andronico's Markets, CalMart Supermarket and Mollie Stone's Markets -- companies that own 34 of the 57 stores operating in the city.

The California Grocers Association said it expects most other grocery operators in the city to sign the agreement. "These companies [who signed] are the ones who worked with us on the political and policy aspects of this issue," a CGA spokesman told SN. "We are contacting some of the others who didn't respond as quickly and inviting them to sign on."

Commenting on the San Francisco program, Jennifer Webber, director of public affairs for the Northern California division of Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif., told SN the chain has been making recycling receptacles available for plastic bags for several years here and in other divisions. "With this agreement in place, we intend to provide more education to employees that single-bagging will be sufficient and they can increase the number of items in each bag, and we'll join with the city to educate consumers that double bags are not always necessary and they should recycle the bags."

Mollie Stone's Market, Mill Valley, Calif., posted signs last week at its stores advising customers it would no longer double bag and offering them the option of buying three reusable shopping bags for $1.99 each and getting one free. The bags are made of 100% non-woven polypropylene.

"We've always had canvas or burlap bags available as an alternative to paper or plastic, but we were geared more for providing whatever customers wanted rather than what was best for the environment," David Bennett, co-owner, told SN.

Bennett also said he questioned why supermarkets have been targeted by the city rather than drug stores or other outlets that use plastic bags.

Bill Andronico, president and chief executive officer of Andronico's, Albany, Calif., said his stores are now selling reusable bags made from recycled plastic instead of more costly canvas bags. In addition, instead of giving customers 5 cents for each bag they bring in and reuse, the company is increasing the payout to 10 cents per bag, he said.

Besides encouraging retailers to reduce the number of bags used, the agreement also calls for the city to attempt to establish curbside recycling programs for plastic bags by the end of 2006.

The agreement calls for participating stores and the Department of Environment to initiate a broad public education campaign to encourage local residents to manage bag usage. According to the CGA, the city will contribute personnel, financial and other resources to that effort, while local supermarkets agreed to contribute -- through their bag suppliers -- $100,000 in private funds or in-kind contributions to underwrite participation by the Department of Environment.

The agreement here reflects the city's goal, adopted in 2003, of reducing landfill diversion by 75% by 2010 and to zero by 2020. According to the city, the target of 10 million bags represents approximately 20% of the total bags distributed in San Francisco annually.