Sonoma County Waste Management Agency hosts Bag Fairs: May 13, 14 & 15, 2014 inviting all grocery stores and retailers in Sonoma County

The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency is hosting Bag Fairs May 13, 14 and 15 for retail and grocery store business owners and managers to meet manufacturers and distributors of ordinance-compliant check-out bags.

The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Ordinance No. 2014-2 Establishing a Waste Reduction Program for Carryout Bags, legally went into effect on March 21, 2014 and applies to all commercial establishments that sell perishable or nonperishable goods including, but not limited to clothing, food, and personal items directly to the customer. Retail establishments do not include public eating establishments (standalone restaurants, delis, takeout establishments, etc.) or nonprofit charitable reusers. Stores are encouraged to expend their remaining stock of plastic carryout bags by September 1, 2014 when ordinance enforcement begins.

“The Agency wants to assist grocery stores and retailers in the transition away from single-use carryout bags,” said Henry Mikus, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency. These Bag Fairs, conveniently located around Sonoma County will focus on showing examples of compliant recycled paper and reusable checkout bags that can be ordered from local distributors or directly from manufacturers. Agency staff, including bi-lingual staff, will also be present at the events to answer any questions and to provide free resources such as store placards and bi-lingual posters.

As defined in the ordinance, Paper checkout bags are bags that contains no old growth fiber and a minimum of forty percent (40%) post-consumer recycled material; are one hundred percent (100%) recyclable; and have printed in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bags the words "Reusable" and "Recyclable," the name and location of the manufacturer, and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Reusable checkout bags are either a bag made of cloth or other machine washable fabric that has handles, or a durable plastic bag with handles that is at least 2.25 mil thick designed and manufactured to withstand repeated uses over a period of time made from a material that can be cleaned and disinfected shall not contain lead, cadmium, or any other heavy metal in toxic amounts.

Please visit http://www.recyclenow.org/business/carryoutbags.asp for more information.

About the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency: The Agency, formed in 1992, is the joint powers authority of Cotati, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor and the unincorporated County. Its mission is diversion (as required by state law AB939) of household hazardous waste, composting and wood waste, as well as customer education and planning. Funding for its programs is derived from a surcharge on garbage delivered to county refuse disposal sites. Visit the Agency’s website www.recyclenow.org