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News January 25, 2019

State Bill Would Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags in Florida

Meanwhile, Berkley, CA has instituted fees on disposable cups. Both moves could benefit promotional products distributors.

By  Christopher Ruvo

The legislative clampdown on plastic bags and related single-use items has intensified with a Florida politician proposing a statewide ban on certain disposables and a California city enacting a fee on one-use throwaway cups. Such prohibitions could help stimulate sales of branded reusable products, including totes and drinkware.

In Florida, State Senator Kevin Rader, a Democrat, filed a bill that would prevent restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses from providing plastic carryout bags and single-use plastic straws.

Some Florida cities already have similar bans in place:

As for the proposed statewide bill, additional businesses covered by the regulations would include cafes, delis, coffee shops, supermarkets, food trucks, vending trucks/carts, movie theaters, institutional cafeterias, convenience stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, and other retail establishments that have more than 1,000 square feet of retail space.

Under the bill, Sunshine State businesses would be allowed, by special exception, to provide single-use plastic straws to people who require the items due to a disability or medical condition.

Of special note for promotional products distributors: The bill effectively posits reusable tote bags as a viable alterative, saying businesses can provide “a durable, handled carryout bag made from a natural or synthetic material other than plastic film, including, but not limited to, woven or nonwoven plastic or cloth, which is at least 10 mils thick and which is specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse.”

If passed, the bill could help propel sales of branded totes and other reusable bags in Florida, which has a population of about 21 million. Filed Jan. 24th, the bill awaits further action from the Florida legislature.

In Northern California, the city council for Berkley voted unanimously on January 22 to approve an ordinance that requires coffee shops, restaurants and the like to charge patrons a 25-cent fee for disposable cups. Set to take effect in January 2020, the fee aims to encourage customers to use reusable cups. "The goal is to transition Berkeley from throwaway to reusable food ware, to incentivize people to bring their own cup," Councilwoman Sophie Hahn, who co-authored the ordinance, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

That should be music to the ears of distributors, who now have an excellent opportunity to sell branded travel tumblers and related logoed drinkware to businesses and organizations that operate in or near Berkley, and/or end-buyers who target audiences there.

Additionally, the Berkley ordinance mandates that restaurants provide takeout containers that are compostable by mid-2020. Reusable plates and utensils for eat-in are required, too. Berkley has already banned plastic straws, while California has had a statewide prohibition on plastic bags since 2014.

While Berkley’s city council embraced the ramped-up regulation on disposables, at least some folks elsewhere in the country aren’t keen on it.

Meanwhile, as Counselor previously reported, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants to ban single-use plastic bags in the Empire State. New Yorkers are divided on the potential ban, a recent poll shows.

Last month, the European Union proposed that all single-use plastic cutlery, plates, straws and drink stirrers, along with balloon sticks and food containers made of expanded polystyrene, be outlawed within its borders. Back in the U.S., as Counselor has reported previously, Washington State is also considering a plastic bag ban.

Environmental concerns are driving the growing movement to ban single-use plastic bags and other one-off disposables. Ban advocates say such products pollute waterways, cause litter to proliferate, and are a threat to wildlife.