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This report is divided into two parts, the first regarding plastic bags, and the second foam food containers, as each presents significantly different information. PLASTIC BAGS BACKGROUND As used in this report, plastic bags refer to plastic carryout bags provided to a customer by a store at the point of sale. State Regulation of Plastic Bag Recycling. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 established requirements for the recycling and reuse of various products, including plastic packaging. The Act set minimum standards for the use of plastic postconsumer material for manufacturers. In 1996, State law (AB 2449 Levine) established a comprehensive recycling program for plastic bags. The stated purpose included these concerns: I) On a global level, the production of plastic hags has significant environmental impacts each year, including the use of over 12 million barrels of oil, and the deaths of thousands of marine animals through ingestion and entanglement. (2) Each year, an estimated 500 pillion to I trillion plastic hags are used worldwide, which is over one million hags per minute, and of which billions of bags end up as litter each year. (3) Most plastic carryout hags do not biodegrade which means that the hags break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate soil and waterways and enter into the food web when animals accidentally ingest those materials." The State's plastic bag recycling program includes the following elements: Stores must: (a) have printed on their plastic bags "Please Return to a Participating Store for Recycling (b) provide at least one plastic bag collection bin; (c) maintain for three years records describing the collection, transport, and recycling of plastic bags; and (d) make reusable bags available to customers, which may be purchased and used in lieu of using a plastic carryout bag or paper bag. Manufacturers of plastic bags must develop educational materials to encourage the reduction of use and the reuse and recycling of plastic bags and shall make those materials available to stores. Annual report to the California Integrated Waste Management Board about plastic bag recycling. Cities are allowed to audit stores for compliance with these State requirements which according to the Alameda County Waste Management Authority staff, no cities in Alameda County undertake such audits, nor does the Authority Cities are also allowed to implement their own curbside recycling program for plastic bags which Pleasanton's program with Pleasanton Garbage Service does not currently include. A store is a retail establishment that provides plastic carryout bags to its customers as a result of the sale of a product and that meets either of the following requirements: (a) a retail establishment which has over 10,000 square feet of retail space that generates sales tax and has a licensed pharmacy; or (b) a supermarket a full -line, self service, retail store with gross annual sales of $2 million or more and which sells a line of dry groceries, canned goods, nonfood items, or perishable goods. 2 Pleasanton Garbage Service does not currently have a recycling buyer or mechanism for plastic bags. Page 2 of 9