Scoping Meeting Presentation - City of Los Angeles Proposed Comprehensive Plastic Reduction Program

Presentor: Christine Batikian
www.lacitysan.org/ceqa
www.lacitysan.org/sourcereduction
The City of Los Angeles (City), as the Lead Agency, through its Bureau of Sanitation (LA Sanitation and Environment, LASAN), is preparing a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the proposed Comprehensive Plastics Reduction Program (Proposed Program), which is further described below. The City is requesting identification of the scope and content of environmental issues and information that you or your organization believes should be considered in the PEIR.
The City seeks to implement a citywide Comprehensive Plastics Reduction Program, which would involve measures to reduce or eliminate the production and use of single-use plastic products (“upstream” measures) and encourage reuse of other items to the extent feasible, thereby reducing or eliminating the input of single-use plastics into the City’s waste stream and the environment and reducing the aesthetic, environmental, and human health impacts of single-use plastics. These upstream measures may include bans on specific single-use products; product stewardship programs (e.g., certain packaging and/or foodware items); extended producer responsibility programs (e.g., take-back programs for certain textiles); policies to require and/or support the manufacturing of durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable products (e.g., requirements for recycled content in certain products); and evaluating program efficacy and conducting additional studies (e.g., additional take-back programs and/or pilot programs).
The City anticipates that a decrease in single-use plastics could result in an increase in the use of reusable, compostable, and recyclable materials in the City. Therefore, the program includes elements to increase the City’s ability to manage these materials, such as by collecting, reusing, recycling, and composting alternative materials and supporting reusable products (“downstream” measures). These downstream measures may include the construction or expansion of recycling and composting facilities; regional market development to expand the City’s ability to recycle and reuse currently unmarketable single-use items; and infrastructure to support the use of reusable items. The Proposed Program would also include public education, outreach, and engagement as well as enforcement.