For those in California, the past 2 weeks have been filled with stories about Palo Alto beginning its plastic bag ban (last week) and San Jose struggling to pass legislation. Many other municipalities around the nation on are the same track, trying to find a solution to the plastic bag problem. As I outlined in a recent post, the entire grocery industry is tuned into this issue and is eager to take a stand.

Of course there are other stakeholders involved, not the least of which is the plastics industry. In parallel with their efforts to block legislation, they are working with government to encourage more recycling. A recent article in the Sacremento Bee  discusses the “Got Your Bags?” initiative - designed to remind people to use reusable bags - as well as a renewed attempt to encourage recycling of plastic bags. In fairness to the plastics industry, the 2007 law that mandated stepped up recycling efforts has had little impact, in large part because there was no funding for an awareness campaign to encourage recycling.

For their part, grocers are increasingly realizing that it’s in their best interest - financially as well as environmentally - to encourage the use of reusable bags. Disposable plastic and paper costs them from $30-$60K per store, which represents 10-20% of a store’s annual net income. Finding ways to lower this cost, in particular ways that are deemed a reward rather than a punishment by their customers, is simply smart business for grocers.