Californians should take pride that their state is the nation’s trend-setter for improving the environment. Whether it’s the plastic bags ban or gas mileage standards, California has led with common-sense solutions to long-standing problems.
The Legislature can continue serving as a role model for those in other states by passing Assemblyman Mark Stone’s AB 2779, which would require that all single-use plastic bottles sold in California have attached caps.
It might seem like a small concern unworthy of lawmakers’ attention. But, according to the Ocean Conservancy, plastic bottle caps were the third-most-common item collected in beach and river cleanups in California in 2017, behind only cigarette butts and food wrappers. Discarded bottle caps can kill seabirds when ingested.
Californians purchase more than 5 billion plastic bottles every year. All told, 8 million tons of plastic ends up in oceans every year, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Natural Defense Resources Council reports that the cost to California taxpayers to clean up litter is more than $400 million a year.
Stone, a Scotts Valley Democrat, tried to pass nearly identical legislation in 2017 but had to set it aside when opponents argued that the mandatory 2020 compliance date put too much of a burden on manufacturers. The deadline was intended to work in conjunction with the California law requiring a 75 percent recycling, composting or source reduction of solid waste by that same year to decrease the state’s reliance on landfills.
This time, Stone is leaving the compliance date open as a negotiating point. It passed the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources two weeks ago and will be heard on the Assembly floor in May.
Manufacturers are expected to lobby hard to defeat the measure, citing the cost of altering their machinery to accommodate attached bottle caps. But some manufacturers, including Crystal Geyser, already have made the switch and found they were able to use less plastic, ultimately resulting in cost savings. All manufacturers update their machinery on a regular basis. Stone is willing to work with the bottle makers on a compromise that will establish a reasonable compliance deadline.
Tethering bottle caps to containers has a precedent. For years, beer and soda cans had pull-tabs that drinkers too often discarded at will on beaches, parks and sidewalks. The invention of stay-on tabs caught fire in the 1970s, eliminating one of the nation’s most common pieces of litter.
A simple, thin band of plastic tethering caps to plastic bottles can do the same for today’s beverage containers. If Stone can negotiate a reasonable timeline for compliance, the Legislature should pass AB 2779 and send it to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.
— The Mercury News
