Plastic bag companies cry foul on Dallas ordinance

Published in Waste Dive by Jonathan Barnes | May 6, 2015  

Dive Brief: 

• Hilex Poly Co., Superbag Operating Ltd., Advanced Polybag Inc., and The Interplast Group have filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas regarding a ordinance levying a nickel-per-bag fee on single-use plastic bags, claiming the fee contradicts state law.
  
• The plaintiffs said the Dallas ordinance violates the Texas Health and Safety Code. The group is looking for a judgment invalidating it and stopping enforcement of the nickel fee.
  
• According to the plaintiffs, it would punish the plastic bag makers because it would result in a sales decrease of single-use plastic bags. The new ordinance also would result in higher costs for Dallas-area shops and consumers, the plaintiffs said.

Dive Insight:

While the plaintiffs’ argument that the Dallas plastic bag ordinance will decrease sales of the bags and cost merchants and shoppers more money seems true, the fee also will likely have the effect of lowering the volume of plastic bags going into the landfill waste stream.
Plastic bags are a sizable portion of constantly accumulating ocean garbage. Ocean plastic fouls waters, destroys habitats and harms animals and organisms. The lasting effect of the city’s most recent conservation effort could be measurable.

 

Recommended Reading

 

Recycling Today: Plastic bag companies file suit over Dallas fee

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Europe’s ‘historic moment’ on plastics bags contested by industry advocates

Published: 11/26/2014 in EurActiv.com

The EU has agreed to curb the use of plastic bags in all member states.[Kerry Lannert/Flickr]

 

As lawmakers reached agreement this week to limit the use of plastic bags across Europe, industry voices warned that such rules will have a negative impact on trade in Europe's internal market.

The ban could also lead to different standards in legislation in member states and ultimately, to a ban on other types of packaging, according to PlasticsEurope, the association of plastics manufacturers.

The European Parliament and the Council agreed on Friday (21 November) on EU-wide legislation obliging member states to reduce the use of plastic bags. The law will apply only to bags with a thickness below 0.05mm, because they are less reusable, and turn into waste more quickly.

'Historic moment'
“This is a historic moment for all of Europe. For the first time ever, we have agreed on ambitious measures to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the environment,” said Margrete Auken, a Danish MEP from the Greens/EFA group, who negotiated the law on behalf of the European Parliament.

The new agreement, which is obligatory in all EU countries, gives national governments two ways to implement it. Either reduce consumption by 90 lightweight bags per citizen by 2019, and 40 bags by 2025, or have a mandatory charge by 2018.

These reduction targets will “limit the negative impacts of plastics carrier bag littering on the environment and encourage waste prevention”, according to a statement posted on the Council's website. Most of the plastics bags end up as waste in the EU waters, and it takes “hundreds of years before they are fully degradable”, the statement said.

Average consumption of single-use plastic bags was found to be at 176 bags per person per year in 2010.

Under the new law, member states can also introduce a complete ban on plastic bags at their own discretion. Such a decision, if implemented, is against the principle of free movement of goods, said PlasticsEurope.

A full prohibition will disrupt the trade flow between the member states, as it will limit the export-import possibilities of such goods, it warned.

“It opens the door for member states to ban not only plastic bags but other types of packaging,” said PlasticsEurope. “Such an inconsistent political framework […] would hinder investments and innovation and would create barriers to trade in packaged goods in Europe.”

Make users pay
The industry said that the best way to discourage the use of plastic bags is to make the users pay, like in Ireland or Denmark.

In Ireland, plastic bags accounted for 5% of litter before the levy was introduce in 2002, and then dropped almost overnight to around the current level of 0.25% in 2010, according to a Commission's impact assessment.

“Charging for bags can have a positive effect on raising consumers' awareness of the economic value of the resources that have been used to produce the bag,” said PlasticsEurope.

Under the new law, the governments have to organise public information campaigns to explain the environmental consequences of excessive use of lightweight plastic bags.

The new bill, despite receiving full support from the Parliament and the Council, was not backed by Tory MEPs. The proposal was seen as an interference in a national matter. Out of 60 votes in favour in the Environment Committee in the European Parliament, three legislators from the European Conservatives and Reformists abstained from voting.

"Plastic bags blight our countryside and oceans and kill millions of marine animals each year. I'm deeply concerned that Conservative MEPs refused to support legislation to reduce their use across the EU," said MEP Catherine Bearder, a Liberal Democrat.

But the British government is already planning to introduce a 5p charge for plastic bags next year, said Bearder. "It makes sense for the rest of Europe to follow suit."

The bill will now be formally adopted by the Council in December, and will be subject to a final vote in Parliament in early 2015.

 

Positions: 

 

The Committee of the Regions expressed disappointment as EU Member States and MEPs came to an agreement which would ensure that by 2019 no more than 90 plastic bags per person per year will be used. The Committee – which represents Europe's local and regional authorities - had hoped for an outright ban of free plastic bags by 2020, compulsory EU targets for all Member States and the introduction of charges for all carrier bags to ensure an 80% reduction.

After the new European Commission considered pulling the entire package to reduce plastic bag usage, speaking on behalf of the Committee Cllr. Linda Gillham said, "There were hopes that governments would use the opportunity to rid Europe of the unnecessary over-use of plastic bags once and for all. But as theEuropean Commission was close to pulling the plug on the entire proposal, we are relieved - as this agreement is better than no agreement.

The proposal to cut the average number of lightweight plastic bags each year from 198 to 90 per person by 2019 is a compromise. It is a recognition that the environmental, social and economic consequences of the 100bn tons of plastic bags thrown away each year in Europe are illogical and unacceptable".

 

Timeline: 

• December, 2014: Adoption in the Council
• Early 2015: European Parliament final approval

External links: 

EU institutions

• European Parliament: Reducing use of plastic bags: MEPs strike deal with Council Presidency
• Council statement: Use of plastic bags: agreement on phasing down
• Committee of the Regions: Plastic bags: local government hopes for outright ban dashed as EU leaders agree compromise
• Catherine Bearder MEP votes to approve targets to slash plastic bag use in EU
• The Greens/EFA: Historic deal on new rules a breakthrough for tackling plastic waste

Industry

• European Bioplastics: EU legislation on plastic bags paves way for compostable shopping bags

Myths vs. Facts Regarding Single Use Bag Bans and Fees

Published by Save the Bay


Myth: Recycling plastic bags is the best solution to addressing the litter problem. 
Fact: Plastic bag recycling is costly and just doesn’t work.

Despite a 15-year statewide effort in California, recycling plastic bags has failed. The California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates that less than 5 percent of all single use plastic bags in the state are actually recycled.

Plastic bags cost municipal recycling programs millions each year, when bags jam sorting equipment at recycling facilities. In San Jose, less than four percent of plastic bags are recycled and work stoppages from jammed bags cost the City approximately $1 million per year.

 Failed recycling efforts means billions of plastic bags are thrown away, blow onto our streets and float into our waterways. Plastic bags are the quintessential litter item: there are billions of them, they are used for a few short minutes, and they are light and easily transportable.

Myth: Recycled plastic bags are a valuable commodity. 
Fact: The market for recycled plastic bags is small and unstable.

At the moment, a single manufacturer, purchases 70 percent of the plastic bags recovered nationwide, to make outdoor decking. In 2008, Newsweek reported that the company lost $75 million in the previous year, raising questions about the long-term viability of the end market. Some curbside programs will take plastic bags if they are bundled, but the commodity is low grade and brings a low price, partly because it gets dirty during handling and transportation. Even the plastic bag industry doesn't use its own post-consumer material. Recyclers are sometimes forced to stockpile bales of bags or even pay to get rid of them.

Myth: Bans or fees on plastic bags will just push people to use more paper bags.
Fact: With well-designed policies that address both plastic and paper bags, consumers will switch to reusable cloth bags.

The legislation supported by Save The Bay and other advocates covers all single-use bags, both paper and plastic. This is a proven way to decrease the use of both kinds of bags in favor of reusable bags - which are inexpensive and long-lasting - ultimately saving retailers and consumers money. Every year in the U.S, consumers and retailers spend billions of dollars on excessive quantities of single-use bags that have an average use time of 12 minutes.

Myth: A fee on plastic bags didn't work in Ireland. 
Fact: Ireland's bag fee dramatically reduced plastic bag usage and plastic bag litter.

Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency submitted a letter to the San Jose City Council rebutting the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) false claims about Ireland's bag fee. In this letter, Ronan Mulhall of the Waste Policy division confirms that plastic bag litter dropped by 93 percent and plastic bag use decreased by approximately 90 percent in the year following the Plastic Bag Levy. Ireland later increased their fee to approximately 33 cents (US). The Irish EPA reports that these dramatically lower levels of plastic bag use and litter are being maintained.

Myth: Fees on single use bags will negatively impact low income people. 
Fact: No one has to pay the fee.

A single-use bag fee is only charged if you do not bring your own bag. Lower income communities (some of the most blighted by plastic bag litter) are already paying for plastic bags through city taxes and increased food and retail prices. Every bag fee policy currently under consideration at the local and state level would either subsidize reusable bags for low-income residents or exempt low-income residents from paying the fees.

Myth: Single-use bag bans or fees are bad policy in this time of economic crisis. 
Fact: Reducing the use of single-use plastic and paper bags will save us all money.

Retailers currently embed 2 to 5 cents per plastic bag and 5 to 23 cents per paper bag in the price of goods—adding $30 or more per person annually in hidden costs. In contrast, when consumers use reusable bags, retailers save money and can lower prices. Many grocers offer a 5-cent rebate for bringing your own bag, which can add up to about $60 in savings per year for an average family.

Bags clog storm drains and recycling equipment, costing cities millions, and bag litter lowers property values and degrades recreational areas. In addition to the out-of-pocket cost passed on from the retailer to consumers, California taxpayers spend approximately $25 million every year to collect and landfill plastic bags.6 San Jose City staff estimates that it costs at least $3 million annually to clean plastic bags from creeks and clogged storm drains.

Single-use bag production depletes resources and contributes to carbon emissions and global warming. We consume approximately 14 million trees8 and 12 million barrels of oil9 to produce the billions of plastic and paper bags we throw away in the United States every year.

Myth: Plastic bag litter isn't really a problem for the environment. 
Fact: 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide in one day last year.

Plastic trash entangles, suffocates, and poisons at least 267 animal species worldwide. According to the California Coastal Commission, up to 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic, which never biodegrades.

Plastic bags were the second largest item of litter picked up by volunteers during the Ocean Conservancy's 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Day. It is estimated that one million plastic bags pollute the Bay every year. Scientists recently measured 334,271 pieces of plastic per square mile in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Myth: Education about responsible use and disposal of plastic bags will reduce litter. 
Fact: Unfortunately, public education hasn't worked, despite massive public investment.

Huge amounts of money have been spent on public education about litter. One example is CalTrans' "Don't Trash California" campaign. Yet, we still see our highways coated in bags, cups, and cigarette butts. A fee on single use bags provides an incentive to consumers to change their behavior and switch to reusable bags.

Bag Fee D.C.- What Businesses are Saying

Published Nov. 18, 2011 in Ban The Bag.com

(image courtesy of Inertia)

Last winter the Alice Ferguson Foundation commissioned a study of Washington, DC, residents and businesses to learn more about how the five-cent bag fee was being received after its implementation, January 1st, 2010. The study was funded by the District Department of the Environment.

While littering is known to be a widespread problem (a previous AFF study found as many as 4 in 10 DC residents admit to actively littering), the bag fee has had a tremendous and immediate change in behavior, with 75 percent of residents reporting a reduction in their bag usage. 

Perhaps even more important when making the case for a new bag ordinance is the fact that the bag fee is also very popular with businesses. The majority of surveyed businesses said their consumption of bags is at least 50 percent lower than in 2009, as a result of the fee. Only 12 percent reported a negative impact on their business–with the primary complaint surrounding customer education. None reported lower sales. 

Instead, 78 percent of surveyed businesses have had neutral or positive experiences with the bag fee. Specifically they have observed a reduction in litter on their properties, and not-insignificant cost savings by not having to buy as many bags.

Businesses ranging from sole proprietorships in low-income areas all the way up to large national chains give positive feedback. Marcia Levi, the owner of Chocolate Moose, a gift shop in downtown DC, said, “This little 5-cent fee has really raised the level of public awareness in not using bags unnecessarily. I am so thrilled at the way this has played out for both my business and the environment.”

Books A Million reported saving $1,750 in 2010, just from purchasing fewer bags. Retailers, especially grocery stores, operate on such thin profit margins that simply reducing that one expense makes a big difference.

Statistics are very compelling for campaigners facing opposition from business. Case studies, stats, and knowledge of implemented policies and their effect on the bottom line are the tools for a successful campaign and how to make friends out of enemies.

Studying the D.C. model is of utmost importance.

Julie Lawson, D.C. Surfrider

To reduce plastic waste, pay 10 cents a bag

A small bill can make a huge difference

Published in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, November 19, 2014

BY Donovan Richards , Margaret Chin , Brad Lander 

 

FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images Bring a reusable tote. It's better for everyone.

This September, New York City was energized when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the People’s Climate March, to make it clear that we can’t stand idly by with the planet hanging in the balance.

But when it comes to the plastic bag waste that’s choking our oceans, clogging our storm drains, getting stuck in our trees and wasting our money, our city isn’t leading. In fact, we’re far behind.

There are already 142 municipalities around the country that have instituted fees or bans on disposable bags — and it’s not just places like San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Municipalities and counties in Texas, North Carolina and Arizona (not to mention China, Ireland and Rwanda) are also ahead of us.

Many of these places have already seen a 60% to 95% decrease in plastic bag use. Residents quickly, easily and overwhelmingly shifted to environmentally friendly reusable bags.

The benefits of this shift are easy to recognize. Plastic bags aren’t hanging from trees or clogging gutters, and sanitation departments are saving money by not having to clean up and dispose of those wasteful bags.

New Yorkers, by contrast, continue to use 5.2 billion disposable bags — 625 per person — each year. We spend $10 million of taxpayers’ money to truck them as waste to landfills, but many still end up as litter. Others blow into the ocean, where they join ever-growing islands of plastic waste that are filling our oceans.

Are we finally ready to do something about it?

We’re the sponsors of city legislation to place a 10-cent fee on disposable plastic and paper bags in convenience stores, supermarkets and delis citywide. That small fee will help remind New Yorkers to start bringing their own bags to the store — and with that shift will come the same benefits so many other cities are already enjoying.

(Paper is included in our legislation because our aim is to encourage reusable bag use, not to trade one environmentally harmful habit for another.)

You might have heard some misinformation about our bill. Here are some facts.

The experience of other cities shows that people across all income levels respond to a fee by dramatically reducing their plastic bag use. We all may still pay for a bag once in a while — but New Yorkers will start bringing reusable bags and mostly avoid the fee.

Our bill requires the city to distribute reusable bags throughout low-income communities to make sure everyone there has the opportunity to make the shift and avoid paying a fee. And it would exempt people who pay with food stamps. So it will not impose a financial burden.

Our bill won’t hurt small businesses, who will keep the 10-cent fee — it’s not a tax — and who won’t have to deal with any new paperwork requirements. It’s also been shown that consumers don’t shop less when fees are enacted.

And contrary to some claims, reusable bags are safe and sanitary. Consumer Reports has debunked the one study (which was funded by the plastic bag industry) that purported to show otherwise.

Our bill also won’t place any fee on the small plastic bags supermarkets provide specifically for meat and produce, so there’s no risk for cross-contamination. It never hurts to wash reusable bags to keep them clean — but there’s no evidence of a public health risk.

Here’s one more important fact. When the California Legislature recently passed a statewide ban on disposable plastic bags, it wasn’t just progressive lawmakers and environmentalists who pushed it through. The bill was backed by advocates for businesses, workers and low-income residents throughout the state.

So why are we still wallowing in plastic-bag waste?

Chin, Lander and Richards are City Council members, respectively representing lower Manhattan, Park Slope and Gowanus in Brooklyn and Far Rockaway in Queens. Richards is chairman of the Council’s Environmental Protection Committee and Lander is deputy leader for policy.

Ocean Beach Council Plastic Bag Controversy

Published in SDnews.com Dec. 12, 2013

Let power lines be roosting territory for Ocean Beach’s famous feral parakeets — not a hitching post for ripped-up and decaying plastic bags twisting away in the wind, according to the Ocean Beach Town Council’s Board of Directors.

The board last month voted to support a proposed ordinance that would ban carry-out plastic bags at grocery stores and retail outlets in San Diego and charge 10 cents for paper bags.

The Ocean Beach Town Council voted overwhelmingly to urge the City Council to ban carry-out plastic bags at grocery stores and retail outlets and charge 10 cents for paper bags. Courtesy photo

If carried through, the city would join Solana Beach and more than 85 cities and counties in California that have taken action, according to Roger Cube, director of the San Diego County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, who addressed the board in October.

Cube, pointing to a recently released study by the Equinox Center, said the harm from using plastic instead of reusable tote bags is irrefutable. More than 95 percent of the half-billion bags used annually throughout the city goes unrecycled, winding up as roadside and beach litter.

A ban could achieve an 86 percent reduction in plastic bag usage, the study said.

“It was a fabulous presentation, very convincing,” said Ocean Beach Town Council president Gretchen Kinney Newsom.

The ordinance was approved in October by the San Diego City Council’s Rules and Economic Development Committee, but has yet to be considered by the full City Council. OB Town Council board members decided to pass a resolution as a way to express the community’s pro-environment values, Kinney Newsom said.

“We felt it was important to get the word out effectively,” Kinney Newsom said.

The resolution in full can be viewed at obtowncouncil.org.

— Tony de Garate

Read more: San Diego Community News Group - OB Town Council puts bag on plastic bag controversy

Could Federal Bill Lead to Death of Plastic Bags?

Published in EcoWatch | May 22, 2013 By Laura Beans

A mother otter in Moss Landing Harbor, CA, tries to free her cub from a plastic bag. Photo courtesy of the Central Coast Sanctuary Alliance.

According to Bag Monster, a bill is under consideration that would regulate single-use plastic bags in the U.S.

On Earth Day, the bill, Trash Reduction Act of 2013, was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, the bill would place a five-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags in every retail location across the country.

“According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American throws away about 4.4 pounds of trash each day. The results of this waste can be found in our oceans,” said Rep. Moran (D-VA), who announced the introduction of the bill. “Small steps like replacing plastic bags with reusable ones yields large returns in reducing the amount of trash we create.”

The bill is modeled after Washington, D.C.’s disposable bag fee, which, since 2010, has reduced plastic bag usage from a monthly average of 22.5 million to 3 million bags. All revenue generated from the fee would be used to support the nation’s Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Although many U.S. cities and one state, Hawaii, have enacted plastic bag laws, the federal government has yet to pass any similar regulations.

The U.S. International Trade Commission reported that 102 billion plastic bags were used in the U.S. in 2009. As plastic items break down, any toxic additives they contain—including flame retardants, antimicrobials and plasticizers—can be released into the environment. Many of these chemicals may disrupt the endocrine system—the delicately balanced set of hormones and glands that affect virtually every organ and cell in the bodies of humans and animals. In marine environments, excess estrogen has led to discoveries of male fish and seagulls with female sex organs.

Plastic bags never biodegrade, and according to the Central Coast Sanctuary Alliance, the plastic bags that do get recycled can clog and slow sorting machines, making them a costly and inconvenient setback for recycling centers.

Stiv J. Wilson, of the 5 Gyres Institute, underscores the enduring damage perpetuated by our ravenous use of plastic bags in his introduction to a new video, Plastic Bags Are Forever:

One of the major barriers to implementing common sense plastic bag policies is that the plastic bag industry will often cite Life Cycle Analysis (LCAs) studies that only use carbon output as a measure of pollution, comparing paper and plastic. There is no attention given to the affect on marine life, nor the implications for human health as the apex predator of a marine food system (we eat fish that eat plastic that absorbs toxins). There is also no attention given to the fact that plastic bags do not biodegrade in the marine environment.

It’s clear that the issue is much more complicated than the plastic bag industry will lead us to believe as evidenced by the footage used to make the following public service announcement. But even the argument stating plastic is less carbon emission intensive than paper falls apart when we look at what’s isn’t included in the existing LCAs. For example, the feedstock for plastic bags is ethylene, a byproduct obtained from natural gas refining.

The carbon footprint of obtaining the natural gas isn’t considered in the LCAs either. Fracking, which emits methane, an incredibly potent greenhouse gas, accounts for 35 percent of the natural gas obtained in the U.S. With worldwide recycling of plastic bags decreasing and consumption increasing, more and more plastic bags are accumulating in the world’s rivers, watersheds and oceans.

Visit EcoWatch’s WATER page for more related news on this topic.

Another Texas Town Bans Plastic Bags

Surfrider Foundation

Published on ecowatch.com By Bill Hickman - July, 31, 2013

Surfrider chapters typically focus their plastic reduction efforts in coastal cities and towns since that’s where our members are who see the impacts of plastic pollution firsthand and want to take action. You have to start somewhere and as a grassroots organization, that somewhere is our backyard.



But it’s important to remember that everywhere on land is part of a watershed that flows to a river, creek or stream that then outlets in a lake, bay or ocean. So it’s great to see inland cities making efforts to reduce single-use plastic bags and the latest good news comes from the west Texas city of Kermit where a reusable bag ordinance has been enacted.

In addition to marine impacts, plastic bags can be a big nuisance for farmers. I recently spoke with some Surfrider activists in Texas who mentioned that cotton farmers can take a financial hit from plastic bag litter because it can taint their crop as it is processed by mills:

Bags find their way into farmers’ fields and then into modules of cotton. The bags go through the gin and textile mills and have even ended up in finished apparel. One thing that I would really like to emphasize this fall is to watch for those Wal-Mart bags in your fields. It’s almost humorous, but it’s dead serious. One mill in the east quit buying cotton in Georgia and the Carolinas because of it.

Kermit recently passed a type of reusable bag ordinance that eliminates plastic checkout bags at most retailers and puts a small fee on paper bags as an incentive for people to remember their reusable bag or go without a bag for small purchases. The City of Kermit website does a great job to explain the ordinance and why it’s needed:

Q: What kind of plastic bag is banned?
Plastic carryout bags include any bag made of plastic (from any source), which is provided to the customer at the point of sale.

Q: What kind of plastic bag is NOT banned?
Produce bags and product bags are bags without handles used exclusively to carry produce, meats or other food items to the point of sale or to prevent such food items from coming into direct contact with other purchased items.

Q: Why has the City of Kermit banned single-use plastic carryout bags?
The intent of the single-use carryout bag ordinance is to significantly reduce the environmental impacts related to single-use plastic and paper carry out bags and promote a major shift towards the use of reusable bags.

Q: How are single-use plastic carryout bags harmful to the environment?
They are consumed in extremely high volumes. They are produced from non-renewable resources. They are designed to be disposable (rather than reusable). They are difficult to recycle—less than 5 percent of the 19 billion plastic bags used annually in Texas are actually recycled. They are a significant and visible component of litter and do not biodegrade. They remain in the environment as marine, storm drain and beach pollution for decades. A significant hazard to ranch animals and birds, which often mistake plastic bags as food.

Q: Is there any exception to this ban?
The ordinance does NOT prohibit the distribution of plastic product bags such as those distributed within a grocery store for bagging produce or meat.

Q: What stores are required to charge 10 cents for each recycled paper bag?
All grocery stores, convenience stores, minimarts, liquor stores, drug stores and pharmacies are prohibited from providing free distribution of single-use paper and plastic carryout bags. If these stores decide to make paper carryout bags available for their customers, they are required to sell recycled paper carryout bags made from 100 percent total recycled content with 40 percent post-consumer recycled content for not less than 10 cents per bag.

Q: Why is there a $0.10 fee on recycled paper carryout bags?
The fee of $0.10 on recycled paper carryout bags encourages the use of reusable bags. This cost pass-through reimburses retailers for the costs of providing recycled paper carry out bags to their customers. All of the revenue from the cost pass-through remains with the store.

Q: How do I avoid paying 10 cents for each recycled paper bag?
It’s easy—remember to bring your own reusable bags to the store. Some stores will even offer you a credit or gift for bringing your own bag.

Visit EcoWatch’s BIODIVERSITY page for more related news on this topic.

Boulder's bag fee goes into effect Monday

Officials, activists hope fee on disposable bags will change behavior

Posted:   06/30/2013

By Erica Meltzer Camera Staff Writer

Violet McKee, of Alfalfa's in Boulder, uses paper bags to bag groceries on Thursday. New grocery store bag fees for paper and plastic will go into effect today. ( CLIFF GRASSMICK )

 

For more information visit BroughtItBoulder.com.

 

Starting Monday, Boulder shoppers will need to pay 10 cents for disposable paper or plastic bags at city grocery stores, convenience stores and big-box retailers like Target.

Boulder has handed out more than 36,000 free reusable bags to area residents and shoppers in preparation for the fee going into effect, and city sustainability workers will be outside area grocery stores distributing whatever remains of the 40,000 bags they bought in May.

"Everyone loves free bags," said Boulder business sustainability specialist Jamie Harkins. "Everyone has been really excited to get the bags, and I've been getting good feedback from the store owners. A lot of the big stores have been training their employees."

The City Council adopted the bag fee back in November, but the city put off implementing the fee to give time for an education campaign and for stores to prepare.

The fee came about after students with the Net Zero Club at Fairview High School argued for a ban on all plastic bags and a fee on paper bags.

The City Council decided to pursue a fee on all disposable bags after representatives of Eco-Cycle said banning plastic would cause people to switch to paper, which has its own environmental problems, rather than to reusable bags.

The bag fee applies at all food retailers. Gas station stores will be exempt if food sales account for less than 2 percent of their business.

Retailers will get to keep 4 cents to cover their costs of administering the program. The county recycling center will get 0.9 cents to cover the costs of retrieving plastic bags from recycling equipment.

The city plans to use the rest of the money collected from the fee to pay for education and outreach about reusable bags and to cover the costs of free bags.

The city projects it will collect $216,000 this year from the bag fee and $325,000 in 2014.

Washington, D.C., which has a similar bag fee, saw a 75 percent decrease in the use of disposable bags within a year of adopting its fee, but Boulder is projecting only a 50 percent decrease because so many shoppers here already bring their own bags.

Sonja Tuitele, a spokeswoman for Alfalfa's Market, said more than 80 percent of shoppers there already bring their own bags, so they expect the impact to be small.

The store is doing away with its bag credit, though, in response to the policy change.
"We hope that everyone will bring their bags, and this is the new reality," she said.

Whole Foods will keep its bag credit program, in part because so many people donate their bag credit to community projects.

"Our 'Your Change Creates Change' program is alive and well in stores and gives customers the opportunity to donate 10 cents per reusable bag to schools and non-profit organizations of their choice," said Heather Larrabee, regional associate marketing coordinator for Whole Foods.

King Soopers spokeswoman Kelli McGannon said Boulder locations of that grocery store are prepared and support the city's efforts.

"We've been able to come up with a plan that should adequately serve our customers and prepare them for the changes," she said. "It's something that has become important to a lot of people, and we're happy to support the desires of the community."

A spokeswoman for Safeway was traveling Friday and couldn't be reached for comment.

Harkins said city officials are aware that the change could affect low-income residents more and they have worked closely with services agencies like Emergency Family Assistance Association, Boulder Housing Partners and Workforce Boulder County to get free bags into the hands of those who most need them.

They also went door-to-door in Boulder's trailer parks and other poorer neighborhoods to hand out bags.

Randy Moorman, community campaigns manager for Eco-Cycle, said the company looks forward to finding fewer plastic bags in the recycling waste stream. The bags get stuck in equipment, forcing EcoCycle to stop work and manually remove them. But the environmental impact should be much greater, he said.

"From a zero-waste perspective, we're looking to see less of the disposable bags, whether that's in the environment, caught in trees and becoming a hazard to wildlife, and we hope to see less of these bags going to our landfill," he said.

Shoppers at local stores last week mostly spoke positively of the fee.

"I don't have an issue with it," Boulder resident Lisa Searchinger said as she grabbed some reusable bags from her car before entering Target on Friday. "It's what's best for the environment and best for our community."

Matt Flournoy shopped at the Sprouts Farmers Market located on Arapahoe Avenue Friday. He said he previously lived in Australia for a time and became accustomed to using reusable bags there. He said he is happy to see Boulder making efforts to curb wasteful disposable bag use.

"I think it will have a positive impact on other people and they habits they might not otherwise change," Flournoy said.

Jan Pringle carried her groceries in reusable bags as she prepared to leave the King Soopers on Arapahoe Friday, but said she does not support the bag fee.

"I don't like it," Pringle said. "I don't use plastic bags but for travelers and visitors to the city -- things like that -- I think it's pretty rotten. I have been a visitor to another city where you buy what you think you're paying for and suddenly they're tacking on taxes and extra fees. It's like a visitors' tax."

Camera Staff Writer Joe Rubino contributed to this report.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Erica Meltzer at 303-473-1355 or meltzere@dailycamera.com.

Read more: Boulder's bag fee goes into effect Monday - The Denver Post http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23563794/boulders-bag-fee-goes-into-effect-today#ixzz2XphUkp4q

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D.C.’s bag-tax leadership

Posted 11/25/2011 By Martin Austermuhle  in the Washington Post

The District imposed a five-cent fee on plastic bags almost two years ago, and we seem to be leading a regional trend.

The Examiner reported earlier this week that Prince George’s County has started discussing its own variation on the plastic bag fee, a move that would require the approval of Maryland’s General Assembly. A state senator and state delegate have already indicated that they’ll move to give the county that authority in January, after which the County Council could decide how much to charge for each plastic bag and where the proceeds of the fee would go.

In January 2012, a five-cent bag fee will go into effect in Montgomery County. Interestingly, retailers don’t seem particularly concerned that the new fee will eat into sales; when the District debated implementing the fee in 2009, lobbyists for the plastic bag industry spelled out all sorts of doomsday scenarios.

Generally speaking, the District’s five-cent fee has been held up as an example of how best to reduce the use of plastic bags. In the first month of its implementation, plastic bag use fell by a staggering 19 million. Still, compliance has been an issue — earlier this year, a survey found that 38 percent of retailers weren’t imposing the fee.

Martin Austermuhle blogs at DCist. The Local Blog Network is a group of bloggers from around the D.C. region who have agreed to make regular contributions to All Opinions Are Local.

Paper, plastic, or fee?

Posted on Philly.com August 17, 2012 By Tom Johnson, NJ SPOTLIGHT

N.J. activists, lawmakers pushing bag bills.

When you go into a supermarket, you are usually given a choice: paper or plastic bags to cart your groceries home, unless you are carrying your own reusable grocery bag.

In some states, the choice could cost you a few pennies - including New Jersey, if bills pending in the Legislature become law.

In what may be shaping up as a big battle in the fall legislative session, environmental groups and clean-ocean advocates are pushing lawmakers to either ban single-use plastic bags or charge consumers a fee if they opt for them.

The issue emerged during a hearing this week on the decline of Barnegat Bay. Environmental advocates list - among a host of problems - plastic bags as a cause of rising pollution there.

"They clog up storm drains so they don't function," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Conservationists argue that the bags and other plastics also are a big source of debris in oceans, posing dangers to marine life and sea birds.

John Weber, Northeast regional manager with the Surfrider Foundation, said the United Nations estimated that 100,000 marine mammals and up to one million sea birds die each year from ingesting or becoming tangled in plastics in various forms.

"Bans and fees work," Weber said. "Bag usage drops significantly whenever either is passed. In Washington, D.C., a five-cent fee curtailed plastic bag use by 60 percent within weeks. This not only reduces unsightly litter, it can also reduce the lethal impact on wildlife."

Representatives of the plastics-manufacturing industry disputed that view, telling legislators Monday in Lavalette that plastic bags were more environmentally friendly than paper bags.

"Paper bags have a lot larger carbon footprint than plastic bags," said Donna Dempsey, a spokeswoman for the American Progressive Bag Alliance.

The American Chemistry Council supports that view. According to its website, using paper bags doubles the amount of carbon dioxide produced compared with paper bags; plastic-bag production requires less than 4 percent of the water needed to make paper bags; and paper bags create almost five times more solid waste than plastic bags.

Nonetheless, several regions in the nation have enacted bans on plastic bags, including 50 jurisdictions in California, according to a memo from the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services prepared for the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.

There are no statewide bans, fees, or taxes on plastic carryout bags, although legislation is pending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Philadelphia considered an ordinance banning the bags, but the measure failed.

In New Jersey, seven bills now in the Legislature concern recycling or phasing out noncompostable, single-use plastic bags, and offering reusable bags for purchase. Industry lobbyists dispute the allegation that most plastic bags are resigned to a single use, saying many consumers reuse them.

Industry and business lobbyists argued that the sector was making strides in recycling plastic bags and that, instead of banning their use, the state should ramp up education efforts about the need to recycle.

The effort to ban plastic bags could have an economic impact on New Jersey, Dempsey said, since there are 16 plastics-manufacturing facilities in the state, employing more than 700 people.

Barbara McConnell, vice chair of the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, noted that the state already had a tax on litter-generating products.

Ocean Legislators: Impose Fee on Plastic Bags

Legislation is an environmental issue, legislators say

 

Posted on August 15, 2012 on Patch.com by Daniel Nee

   

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Statement on proposed legislation from Ocean County's 10th District Legislators Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Greg McGuckin:

10^th District Legislators, Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Greg McGuckin are signing on as sponsors of Senator Brian Stack’s (D-33) bill S-675 “Plastic and Paper Bag Reduction Act.”  This legislation would require certain retailers to provide recyclable, compostable or reusable bags instead of plastic or paper carryout bags.

Each year, billions of plastic bags are used in the United States and only a fraction of these bags are returned to the store for proper recycling.  These single-use plastic bags are a major concern of pollution in New Jersey, littering highway medians and waterway shorelines.

“I applaud Senator Stack’s bill which would impose a $0.10 fee for every carryout bag distributed beginning January 1, 2013,” said Senator Holzapfel.  “This fee would encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags when they visit a grocery or convenience store and eliminate our dependence on single-use plastic bags.”

According to the bill, the operator of every convenience store, drugstore, supermarket or retail establishment that provides plastic or paper carry out bags would be required to charge a $0.10 fee for every carryout bag. The fees collected would be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to defray the implementation and enforcement costs of the bill.

 “The pollution generated from plastic bags is growing at an alarming rate and education and recycling programs have only gone so far.  We need to take immediate action to ensure that consumers have an option when going to the grocery store and encourage them to start making a change now,” continued Assemblyman Wolfe.

 Senator Stack’s bill also requires the operator of the store to report quarterly to the DEP on the volume of plastic and paper carryout bags purchased and the total fees collected from the distribution of carry out bags.  A further proposal beginning in January 1, 2015 would require store operators to provide only compostable plastic bags or recyclable paper bags to its customers and would prohibit them from providing any non-compostable or non-recyclable bags to customers.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue.  This is an environmental issue that needs to be addressed now.  Jim, Dave and I will be writing to our Republican caucuses urging our fellow legislators to sign on and get this important bill passed in Trenton,” added Assemblyman McGuckin.

The shore legislators have also introduced multiple pieces of legislation in an effort to restore the Barnegat Bay.  In recent years, the waters of the Barnegat Bay have been severely impacted from pollution causing the ecosystems of the bay to diminish.  Restoring the Barnegat Bay is a major concern for the legislators and these bills are to help protect, preserve and remediate the Barnegat Bay estuary and its watershed.

The first bill, S-1250/A-407, is known as the “The Barnegat Bay Protection Act,” which establishes the Barnegat Bay Protection Fund, dedicates a portion of the sales tax on fertilizer, authorizes special license plates, and provides opportunities for donations to the fund.

The legislators have also sponsored S-221/A-393 which prohibits the use of urea for melting and removing ice. Urea is a commonly used nitrogen-producing substance found in fertilizers and other products for the removal of ice on sidewalks, driveways and roadways. The bill targets the problems caused by excess nitrogen from urea which can cause a chemical imbalance and endanger the ecosystem through water runoff and storm drain systems.

The final bill introduced by the legislators is S-218/A-406, which gives tax credits to residents who live within 1,000 feet of Barnegat Bay and its tributaries who replace grass lawns with stone, crushed shells or other similar materials.  Property owners who either replace their lawns or already have lawns with existing stone or crushed shell lawns would be eligible for a recurring annual tax credit of $250 against the State income tax.