PRESS RELEASE: American Progressive Bag Alliance Launches Ad Campaign in Opposition to SB 270
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Molly Pacala
Phone: 212-819-4869
AMERICAN PROGRESSIVE BAG ALLIANCE LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN IN OPPOSITION TO SENATE BILL 270
ADS WILL HIGHILIGHT SEN. PADILLA’S MISGUIDED BAG BAN PROPOSAL AS LEGISLATION THAT WILL KILL CALIFORNIA JOBS, SCAM CONSUMERS TO ENRICH GROCERS
SACRAMENTO – The American Progressive Bag Alliance (APBA) today announced it is launching of a series of advertisements calling on Californians to urge their state legislators to reject SB 270 (Padilla), which would ban 100 percent recyclable, multi-use plastic retail bags and mandate grocers to charge customers a minimum of 10 cents for paper and thicker gauge plastic bags.
“These ads represent the next step in our ongoing fight against this ill-advised and deliberately misleading legislation” said Lee Califf, Executive Director of the APBA. “Californians need to know SB 270 isn’t about the environment, it’s about billions of dollars in new revenue for the members of the California Grocers Association. This is purely a cash grab that will hurt working families without any meaningful environmental benefit.”
The ads will begin airing Wednesday, May 14th on television, radio, and online in Sacramento and targeted regions around the state. The campaign will aim to educate California citizens on the negative consequences of SB 270, namely:
- SB 270 threatens nearly 2,000 well-paying California jobs in the plastic bag manufacturing & recycling industry;
- SB 270 would ban 100% recyclable, multi-use plastic retail bags made in California in favor of alternatives that use more water in production and put more carbon in the air;
- SB 270 represents a government-sponsored, billion-dollar transfer of wealth from working families to grocers in the form of fees on paper and thicker plastic bags; no money collected from bag fees will be used for environmental programs or for any public purpose;
To view the first ad in the campaign, go here.
“We feel confident these ads will effectively educate the public about this flawed policy,” said Mark Daniels, Chairman of the American Progressive Bag Alliance. “As has been the case throughout this debate, our industry remains open to a dialogue about responsible approaches to sustainability, but until that happens, we have an obligation to protect our workers – including the 2,000 that live in California – from terribly misguided legislation like SB 270.”
The American Progressive Bag Alliance was founded in 2005 to represent the United States' plastic bag manufacturing and recycling sector, employing 30,800 workers in 349 communities across the nation. APBA promotes the responsible use, reuse, recycling and disposal of plastic bags and advocates for American-made plastic products as the best environmental choice at check out—for both retailers and consumers.
