March 28, 2007
San Francisco Chronicle
By Chuck Squatriglia

Plastic Newspaper Wrappers May Be Next Target of S.F. Law

Mirkarimi drafted the landmark legislation the Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday requiring the city's largest grocers and drugstores to offer only biodegradable or recyclable plastic or paper bags. He said he is inclined to expand the law to include newspapers and other sources of petroleum-based bags.

"We will definitely be looking at it," he said. "More will be coming from us."
Chronicle newspaper bags are not biodegradable, but they are recyclable—although few Bay Area recycling firms accept them because they are difficult to recycle.

"Currently, we strive to offer readers optimum balance of recyclable materials and delivery of a clean and dry newspaper," said Henry Ford, director of marketing for The Chronicle. "We will comply with any new legislation that is introduced and subsequently approved."

Ford declined to say how many bags The Chronicle uses annually.

The Chronicle is one of several newspapers in the Bay Area that may be delivered in plastic bags. Others include the San Jose Mercury News, the Examiner and the New York Times. Dozens of companies sell the newspaper bags.

Mirkarimi said that in the coming months, he will study how many plastic bags are generated by newspapers, restaurants and other sources to determine their impact on the environment. He could not say when legislation on those bags might be introduced.

"We should close the loop on this issue," he said. "It's a quality-of-life issue."

The Chronicle uses bags made of linear low-density polyethylene (4), the material used to make trash bags. It offers protection from the elements and can hold up after being thrown onto a sidewalk or doorstep, according to the paper's Web site.

The bags can be recycled, but it is almost infeasible to do so, said Robert Reed, a spokesman for Sunset Scavenger Co. The firm handles much of the recycling in San Francisco. Plastic bags are hard to handle, they are not easily separated from other materials and they harm conveyor belts and other equipment, he said.

"They're the biggest challenge in the waste stream," he said. "The solution is to eliminate them from the waste stream."

Critics of the bags said biodegradable bags should be used, and then only when inclement weather requires using them to keep papers dry.