The Oakland City Council on Tuesday banned petroleum-based, non-biodegradable shopping bags in an effort to reduce the amount of waste Oakland sends to landfills and to prevent the plastic bags from polluting the environment.

Authored by Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) and Jean Quan (Montclair-Laurel), the ordinance encourages people to bring their reusable totes to bag their groceries because of the devastating impact the plastic products can have after being used once and tossed away.

"It'll make a real difference," Quan said, urging her colleagues not to be intimidated by the plastics manufacturers that warned the council it was violating the law by adopting the ban without further study.

`A good first small step'

The ban will apply to stores with gross annual sales of more than $1 million, which would include all supermarkets and chain drug stores.

However, the measure will not apply to restaurants or fast-food eateries.

"It's a good first small step," said Councilmember Patricia Kernighan (Grand Lake-Chinatown). "It's not going to solve all of the problems in the world."

The new law does not apply to the sacks provided by grocery stores to bag fresh fruit and vegetables or meat, only those bags shoppers get at the checkstand.

Councilmembers Desley Brooks and Larry Reid abstained from the otherwise unanimous vote, saying the measure had been rushed and needed further consideration.


Reid said he was worried the additional burden the measure imposes on grocery stores would discourage them from opening new locations in Oakland's flatlands.

"I'm also concerned that this is going to be another one of those ordinances that we can't enforce," Reid said.

The ordinance will go into effect in six months and would require stores to offer shoppers compostable plastic sacks or paper bags that are 100 percent recyclable and contain at least 40 percent recycled material.

The fight against waste

Each year, Californians use 19 billion plastic shopping bags and throw away 600 per second, according to city officials. A law banning the bags in San Francisco will go into effect this fall, and similar measures are under consideration in Berkeley and Marin County.

Those who do not follow the ban could be fined $500 for violations after the city conducts an education and awareness campaign.

Representatives of bag manufacturers and grocers criticized the ordinance, contending it would have unintended environmental impacts by increasing the number of paper bags manufactured and recycled.

Tim James, of the California Grocers Association, warned that the increased cost of paper bags would result in higher food prices in Oakland.

Several opponents of the ordinance urged the committee to wait for a new law - which would require all grocery stores to recycle plastic bags brought back by shoppers and to sell reusable totes - to go into effect before banning plastic bags.

The measure must return to the council for a final vote July 17. The council plans to discuss potential legal challenges to the law behind closed doors before the regular council meeting.

Last year, the council banned Styrofoam take-out food containers and adopted a goal of zero waste by 2020. In addition, the council formed a task force designed to reduce Oakland's dependence on oil.

Contact Heather MacDonald at or (510) 208-6430.