SACRAMENTO – (INT) – Paper receipts could go the way of the Edsel in California.

Skip the Slip legislation would make electronic receipts the default practice when making a purchase. Businesses in the state would have to provide customers e-receipts by 2022, unless a hard copy is specifically requested.

Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) argues that paper receipts have become obsolete in the digital age, wasting valuable natural resources and putting the health of consumers and retail workers at potential risk when exposed to their chemical contents.

Ting says making matters worse, receipts sometimes include coupons, promotions and surveys, making the paper copy even longer. According to a 2018 report by Green America, up to 10 million trees and 21 billion gallons of water in the United States are used to create receipts every year.

Financial institutions are already giving their customers the option of paper or e-receipts.

Committee hearings are expected to begin in the Spring.

Story Date: January 27, 2019