b'The cities prohibition on drycleaning bags wasthe use of expensive bagging equipment andmorerestrictivethanthecurrentstate specificallycutpolyfortheprotectionoftheprohibitioncoveringsingleuseplasticbags. garments.CurrentequipmentcannotAnd while Los Angeles city is no small entity, a incorporate the use of other materials.singleusebanincludingdrycleaningbags 2.Theuseofreusablegarmentbagsiscostcould have easily slipped through the cracks. prohibitive for most cleaners.3.AllcustomerswanttoseetheirclothesAswereportedatthattime,theLosAngeles beforetheyarepickedup.Thiscanonlybecitycouncilconsideredbanningdrycleaning done with plastic poly bags.plasticbags.Amemberalertedustothe 4.ThedrycleaningindustrydiscontinuedtheproposalandwithaboutaweeksnoticeDLI useofpaperdecadesagobecauseoftheandtheCaliforniaCleanersAssociation problemswithpaperwhenitbecomeswet.mountedanauthoritativedefenseand Thisisespeciallytruewhentheinkfromthesucceededingettingthecitytoreconsider. cleanerlogomigratedtothecustomerInsteadofbanningsingleuseplasticbagsin garments. Additionally, die migration can occurdrycleaning businesses, the city will work with fromthecustomersgarmentstoothertheindustrytofindasolutionthatdoesnot garmentsinthebagfromthepapercovers.completelydisruptbusinessandworksfor Thereason,manypeopleuseadrycleaneriseveryone.Whatwouldhavehappenedifwe becausemanytypesofclothingcannotbewerentthere?Perhapsthecitywouldhave washed or wet cleaned. Wet paper causes dryenacted a ban that might have been used as a migrationandotherproblemswhentheyaremodel in communities across the U.S. No one transported by the customer. When a garmentcanreallysay.WhatwedoknowisDLIand is ruined, the drycleaner is blamed.CCA cut off what might have been a very costly 5.Biodegradablebagsmayhavetheirownand unreasonable outcome for our industry.issues.DrycleaningPlantsareinherentlyhumidandtheshelfstabilityofthebagcanMorerecently,smalltownships,likeNewtown become an issue. Biodegradable bags are alsoTownship, PA have adopted an ordinance that costly and may or may not work with an autowillbancertainsingleusebags.Thisfollow bagger.whatothermunicipalitiesthathavealready 6. Drycleaning bags do not contribute to blightdonesointhestateofPennsylvania.Again orlitterinthestreetsastheyareusedtounderthewatchfuleyeofthePennsylvania protect clothing. andDelawareCleanersAssociationitisverylikelythatdrycleaningbagswillnotbe Where do we go from here?included in the ordinance.This issue is not going away. DLI our State andReasonsforKeepingPlasticPolyinthe Regional Partners and our members will needDrycleaning Industry: toworktogethertofendoffthistypeoflegislation,especiallywhenitpopsuponthe1.Theuseofplasticpolyispartofthe local level. At the same time, DLI will continueassemblyprocess.Theclothesneedtobe lookforpossiblesolutionsandworkwithprotectedbeforeandaftercustomerpickup. industrypartnerstosolvingwhatwillbecomeThecurrentassemblyprocessthatisusedin increasinglyproblematicissueforthevirtually all drycleaning plants incorporates theforeseeablefuture.Inthemeantime,wewillcontinuetofightanylaworordinancethatbans drycleaning bags.Page.05'