China, Australia, South Africa and other countries have decided to ban the bags. "California should join the growing list of jurisdictions that have decided to prohibit the sale of single-use plastic bags," the report said.
Tim Shestek, director of state affairs for American Chemistry Council, said the plastics industry has many programs to encourage the collection and recycling of discarded plastics, but he believes bans are ill-advised.
"We do oppose these knee-jerk reactions that say, 'Let's ban plastic grocery bags,' " Shestek said. "If we do, then what? Paper is heavier and has a cost associated with it. It takes seven trucks to deliver the same number of paper bags that takes one truck with plastic bags, so you have more CO2 emissions."
Any discussion, he said, should weigh all the trade-offs.
The light-weight and durable nature of plastics has made them a focus of marine debris campaigns. It takes hundreds of years for plastic to break down in the ocean.
Globally, 80% of plastic marine debris comes from land, either blown by the wind or washed off city streets into streams and rivers that empty into the ocean. The rest, mostly fishing gear, is jettisoned by ships.
Plastic debris kills an estimated 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles each year.
Vikki Spruill, president of the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, commended Schwarzenegger and Garamendi "for their determined efforts to combat ocean trash so that our planet's life support system is healthier and more resilient."
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ken.weiss@latimes.com
