The city's citizen Environmental Quality Committee on Tuesday approved a proposal that would ban single-use plastic bags and styrene containers for takeout food in El Cerrito.
The city is in the middle of a public comment period on the ordinance, which ends Monday. After that, City Council will consider a first draft when it meets Aug. 20.
Tuesday was the second meeting where the public was allowed to speak on the bag and container ordinance. The Contra Costa Times reports the city received 25 comments about the proposal via email, letter and fax and at a meeting on June 11, heard 15 definitely favoring the proposed ordinance and five opposing, according to city environmental analyst Garth Schultz.
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The plastic bags are a significant contributor to litter in the environment, in the ocean and local waterways and are a danger to wildlife, Schultz said. In fact, according to Save the Bay – a regional organization working to protect and restore San Francisco Bay – more than one million plastic bags end up in the bay each year.
All the cities in Alameda County, the cities of San Francisco and San Jose, along with the unincorporated areas of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Marin counties, have similar ordinances, according to Save the Bay.