As food packaging ordinances and plastic bans spread across California municipalities, the California Grocers Association (CGA) is working towards a statewide solution that could help ease the complications of complying with a myriad of different laws.

Senate Bill 54, introduced by Sen. Ben Allen, would require all single-use packaging and products to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030.

According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, Allen is “stressing that it (the bill) is not intended to get rid of single-use packaging and is instead trying to create a larger market for reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging.”

In speaking to the paper, CGA’s governmental affairs director Aaron Moreno noted the Association is seeking to distinguish between the packaging used by grocery retailers and restaurants, in addition to building out a longer implementation timeline that is feasible for the state’s grocery community

It’s very encouraging that the senator has laid out a longer timeline for manufacturers to work toward that goal. There are a number of companies that make these containers, but to ramp up to the scale California would need would take quite a while.

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For the 2019-2020 academic term, the CGA Educational Foundation is offering 340 scholarships totaling $640,000 to CGA member company employees and their college-bound dependents. High school seniors, college undergraduate and graduate students who have been employed, or who have a parent who has been employed, since April 1, 2018, are eligible to apply. Selection criteria include past and current academic performance, participating in school, community and extracurricular activities, and for some awards, financial need and/or essay responses.

Returning for its second year, the $10,000 Legends of the Industry Scholarship will be awarded to a CGA member company employee pursuing a career in the grocery or grocery-related manufacturing industries. For more information or to apply, visit the Foundation’s website or text CGAEF to 313131. Don’t delay — the application deadline is April 1, 2019.