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Potential Revenue to California Retailers from a Statewide Minimum Charge for Disposable Paper and Reusable Carryout Bags in California

In 2014, BSCG estimated the amount of revenues that would be generated by SB 270 (Padilla). As amended March 27, 2014, the bill would ban the use of disposable plastic bags and require a minimum price of $0.10 for disposable paper bags and reusable bags issued at grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store checkouts in California. Using data from the Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery (CalRecycle) on the number of plastic carryout bags used each year and before-and-after data from jurisdictions that have implemented policies similar to SB 270, we estimated statewide disposable bag revenues. Actual revenues will depend on how many times reusable bags are reused, the price differential between reusable and paper bags, and on consumers’ propensity to choose a reusable bag, paper bag, or no bag.

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