The Los Angeles City Council is poised this week to move forward with a draconian policy - the first of its kind - a ban on all paper and plastic retail bags. It's a move that would put hundreds of Los Angeles area jobs at risk, and has been proven to have no benefit for the environment.

The following is a statement from Mark Daniels, Chair of the American Progressive Bag Alliance, an organization representing the United States' plastic bag manufacturing and recycling sector, which employs 30,800 workers in 349 communities across the nation 1,900 of which are in California - whose jobs depend on plastic bag manufacturing and recycling.

"The Los Angeles City Council has signaled all along that it would bring a retail bag ban to a vote, so we are not surprised, but are disappointed by the Council's decision to effectively disregard the facts and impose a misguided policy to ban plastic and paper bags. By voting to move forward with this ban, the City of Los Angeles will place an onerous policy on its residents that puts the jobs of hundreds of Angelenos at risk who work in the bag manufacturing and recycling sector. At a time when we should be creating more manufacturing jobs, this ban takes them away, while pushing people to imported reusable bags which are produced overseas and are a less-environmentally friendly option.

Bag bans have not been proven to reduce litter. With this draconian bag ban, the city takes a simplistic approach that misses an opportunity to provide a more effective solution for consumers and the environment - programs that encourage greater recycling of plastic and paper bags and preserve jobs."