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California Law Banning Paper Receipts Clears First Hurdle In State Legislature (latimes.com)
In January, California Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) introduced a law barring retailers from printing paper receipts unless a customer requests one. Otherwise they'd be required to provide proof-of-purchase receipts "only in electronic form." The bill has cleared its first hurdle in the sate Legislature on Monday as it passed the Nature Resources Committee in a 6-3 vote, despite concerns from some industry groups that say the switch should be driven by the market, not a government mandate. The Los Angeles Times reports: Assembly Bill 161 by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said his bill is an easy way to reduce paper waste in the state while addressing consumers' frustrations with excessively long receipts. Customers have taken to social media for years to complain and poke fun at the size of their receipts, particularly at CVS drugstore, posting pictures of the coupon-packed printouts measuring taller than a refrigerator. The paper that receipts are printed on is generally too thin to be made from recycled material, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. Once they are thrown away, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, said the use of chemicals on paper receipts makes them undesirable to recyclers.
The American Forest and Paper Assn., a paper industry group that opposes the bill, estimates that the United States generates 180,000 tons of paper receipts each year. That, the group points out, is a small percentage of total paper waste. The bill would give businesses until 2022 to provide customers electronic receipts, or a paper printout available on request. Violators would receive two warnings before being levied a $25-per-day fine. The maximum annual fine would be $300. The bill exempts cash-only and smaller businesses with gross receipts under $1 million a year from the electronic receipt requirement.
The American Forest and Paper Assn., a paper industry group that opposes the bill, estimates that the United States generates 180,000 tons of paper receipts each year. That, the group points out, is a small percentage of total paper waste. The bill would give businesses until 2022 to provide customers electronic receipts, or a paper printout available on request. Violators would receive two warnings before being levied a $25-per-day fine. The maximum annual fine would be $300. The bill exempts cash-only and smaller businesses with gross receipts under $1 million a year from the electronic receipt requirement.
Okay, I don't live in CA, but ... this mean you'd have to give every retailer you buy from your email address, so no thanks. I'll always be asking for a paper receipt.
[ Contact info is not the new "plastic". ]
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
OK, so, business that bring in less than $1 million per year don't have to comply. Businesses that bring in more than $1 million per year can pay... $300 per year in fines, and then just ignore it? How is this actually going to work?
This can be done via QR codes or NFC to a phone without the need for them to have any of your information.
So... I'd have to have a smartphone (or have it with me) with a QR app and/or NFC enabled -- or give out my email address -- to buy something.
Good thing this law doesn't *ban* paper receipts (yet).
I imagine you're assuming using the phone for the purchase too, and I'm not discounting your solution, just pointing out that it's a little elitist.
On the other end of this spectrum, buying with cash and getting a paper receipt is anonymous and works for rich and poor people.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
My understanding is that this proposal makes the paper receipt *optional* if you give them an e-mail. First, I don't want to be on their list. Secondly, I sometimes want a paper receipt for a variety of reasons, such as eating at the grocery store and not wanting to get accused of shoplifting.
What they need to do is regulate the width and length of the receipt, and the number of items per unit length. They also need to phase out thermal paper, perhaps tax the thermal paper to fund a program for replacing it with plain paper. Why? Because thermal paper is plastics, and plastic pollution is a huge problem. Require the receipt to tell us if it's plain or thermal so we can dispose of it properly. Finally, no coupons or promotions printing out of the register unless we hit OK on the terminal.
Of course that's a lot, and lobbyists are going to push HARD against that but IMHO it's really the direction we need to go. I'm not sure how we get there.
Maybe then we can get rid of the stinkin' "club cards" and games they want you to play at the store, but first things first.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
What makes our California overlords think that all the world's problems can be solved by banning something...
When the only tool you know how to use is a ban-hammer, all your problems look like nails...
Ban paper receipts? No thanks. It's official documentation of the transaction.
Allow the status quo? No thanks. Stores are needlessly printing too much paper with information I do not need.
How about we compromise? Let's -reduce- the amount of waste, mandating that consumer receipts contain a maximum amount of information, say a list of purchased items, prices, and quantities, name & contact info of business, and date of transaction? Then only print all the extra QR codes, coupons, promos, etc. if a customer asks for it.
After the government gets rid of the unsolicited paper advertising in my mail box, we can talk about paper receipts.
Every week I receive about a pound of unsolicited advertising in my mail box.
It's over 1000X the weight of a weeks worth of receipts.
There are REAL problems in San Francisco, but nothing the dishonorable Mr. Ting wants to act upon. Obviously, Phil Ting is an idiot who does not understand democratic voters living beyond Apple's rat infested garden.
just pointing out that it's a little elitist.
There is nothing "elitist" about cell phones.
95% of American adults have a cell phone.
87% of adults in Bangladesh have a cell phone, twice as many as have a toilet in their home.
For the few people that don't have a phone or email, they can still ask for a paper receipt.
Until retailers, because no-paper is pushed so hard, stop keeping the facility to print receipts. I would like it better if this was a double-edged-sword kind of law. One that says:
1. Retailers can only print a receipt if the buyer requests.
2. Retailers MUST maintain the capability and print a receipt if a buyer requests.
Just remember, according to California and Prop 65 - toast and prune juice will give you cancer! They are only looking out for you. Now ignore the pile of poo outside your door in SF, mind the needles in the grass, and eat your tofu and drink your boba (with no plastic utensils, straws, or paper receipts mind you - it's for the Earth, after all...)
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!