A five-year extension has been approved by the Superior Court of California for San Francisco’s ban on plastic bags, but not without opposition. The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, a plastics industry group, is appealing the decision after the court turned down the coalition’s efforts to remove the ban, and on the claims that the court did not conduct an environmental impact report (EIR). Save the Plastic Bag Coalition’s full appeal can be read at http://bit.ly/OXY7M7.
The ban prohibits stores from using plastic bags, and will extend to all restaurants in summer of 2013. The coalition has been active in other California cities, trying to overturn existing bag bans in cities like San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz.
Other cities with plastic bag bans include Seattle, Portland, Ore., San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas. An effort to ban plastic bags in Reno is underway, starting with a Facebook page called the “Reno ‘Plastic’ Bag Ban,” found at http://on.fb.me/Shpq4A/.