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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 30 december 2022
Think those bags are recyclable? California says think again

By DON THOMPSON prehensive system to col-
Associated Press lect, process and sell the
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) used bags, none of which
— Since California adopt- exist. Putting the bags in
ed the nation’s first ban on most curbside recycling
single-use plastic shopping bins interferes with recy-
bags tin 2014, most grocery cling other products by
stores have turned to thick- clogging equipment and
er, reusable plastic bags increasing the risk of worker
that are supposed to be re- injury, he said.
cyclable. Plastic bags and similar
But Attorney General Rob products are “a top form of
Bonta is now investigating contamination in curbside
whether the bags are truly recycling bins,” California’s
recyclable as required by Statewide Commission on
law. “We’ve all been to the Recycling Markets and
store and forgotten to bring Curbside Recycling wrote
our reusable bags,” Bonta in a 2021 report.
said recently. “At least the Bonta asked six manufac-
plastic bags we buy at the turers Novolex, Revolu-
register for 10 cents have This Friday, Jan. 24, 2014 file photo conveyors carry mixed plastic into a device that will shred tion, Inteplast, Advance
those ‘chasing arrows’ that recycle them at a plastics recycling plant in Vernon, Calif. Polybag, Metro Polybag
say they are 100% recycla- Associated Press and Papier-Mettler to
ble, right? Perhaps wrong.” prove their bags can be
He asked six bag manu- fornia in banning single- recycling department. content and be reusable recycled in California. His
facturers to back up their use plastic bags. Beyond Californians Against Waste at least 125 times. Murray office hasn’t said if they all
claims that the bags can California, only a handful Executive Director Mark suspects that most are re- responded, citing an “ac-
be recycled and threat- of states require that stores Murray in part blames pan- used once. tive and ongoing investiga-
ened legal action that take back plastic bags for demic policies. “That’s not meeting the tion.”
could include banning the recycling, with Maine first Consumers are supposed standard and it may be Revolution Chief Execu-
bags temporarily or issuing adopting such a law in to be able to return their time to phase these bags tive Sean Whiteley said the
multimillion-dollar fines. 1991, according to the Na- plastic bags to grocery out,” he said. company has been recy-
His office declined to say tional Conference of State stores and other retailers. The California Retailers As- cling more than 300 million
last week how many of the Legislatures. But many removed their sociation declined com- pounds of plastic material
companies responded, cit- Policy experts and advo- bag recycling bins during ment because it said each annually for decades and
ing an ongoing investiga- cates estimate that just 6% the early days of the pan- retailer has its own policy, is “confident in our own sus-
tion. The American Chemis- of plastics are recycled in demic, fearing contamina- and the California Grocers tainability and compliance
try Council, a plastics indus- the United States, with the tion. Association did not respond record.”
try group, said that manu- remaining burned, trashed For the system to work, to a request for comment. He noted lawmakers pub-
facturers disagree with or littered. More plastic retailers must collect the As of now, makers of the licly introduced the single-
Bonta’s characterization. bags ended up in Califor- bags and sell them back bags get to self-certify to use bag ban legislation in
Other states, including New nia landfills in 2021 com- to manufacturers for use the state that their bags 2014 at one of the com-
York, New Jersey and Or- pared with 2018, accord- in making new bags that can be recycled. But Bonta pany’s Southern California
egon, have followed Cali- ing to data from the state’s must include 40% recycled said that requires a com- subsidiaries. q

Whale Watch Week returns in-person in Oregon after pandemic

By CLAIRE RUSH cited spectators as several Meares, was closed
Associated Press/Report for were spotted. Wednesday after strong
America “She’s seeing the spray winds the previous day
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — and calling it out,” Stefanie knocked over trees, Knowl-
Whale Watch Week in Or- Knowlton told The Associ- ton said.
egon returned in-person ated Press on the phone Oregon State Parks organiz-
for the first time since the as she watched the cen- es whale-watching events
pandemic on Wednesday, ter’s volunteer, the crowd twice a year, in the winter
drawing visitors hoping to cheering in the back- for gray whales’ southern
catch a glimpse of the an- ground. “There’s just so migration and in the spring
nual gray whale migration much energy. You could for their return to northern
to the state’s coastline. just really feel that people waters near Alaska.
By early afternoon, more were ready to come back Oregon’s central coast is
than 500 people had and watch whales togeth- also a hot spot for whale-
flocked to the Whale er.” watching from June to mid-
Watching Center in Depoe Volunteers will be at 17 November, when the gray
Bay, where a volunteer state parks along the coast whales that remained in
equipped with binoculars through Sunday to help the state’s coastal waters
pointed out whales in the people spot the nearly during the summer migra- In this photo provided by the Oregon Parks and Recreation
distance. A spokesperson 20,000 gray whales that tion come close to shore Department, a sign at the Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay,
for Oregon State Parks, make the southward jour- to feed, according to the Ore., directs visitors to whale watch volunteers on Wed., Dec. 28,
2022.

which organizes the event, ney to Mexico every year. agency.q Associated Press
described scenes of ex- One of the sites, Cape