Apr 2, 2019
New York’s Plastic Bag Ban: the movement against waste is working
On April 1, New York state lawmakers passed a $175 billion spending plan which includes a ban on single-use plastic bags in retailers like grocery and clothing stores. Some exceptions include bags for uncooked meat, fish or poultry; sliced or prepared foods; delivered newspapers; prescription drugs; trash bags; food-storage bags; garment bags and bags for restaurant carryout orders. According to the Citizens Budget Commission, the bill will reduce the 71,000 tons of plastic bags are used annually in New York City.
Counties are also allowed to charge a 5-cent fee for paper bags, with three cents going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and two cents kept by local governments. This option incentivizes retailers to invest in more eco-friendly options if bags are absolutely necessary. However, there is conflicting research on whether plastic or reusable bags are actually more sustainable in the long run.
Following California (which banned plastic bags in 2016), New York is just the second to put in place a state-wide ban, though counties and towns across the nation have implemented similar bans in local legislatures. For example, all counties in Hawaii have passed similar plastic bag bans (which is basically a de facto statewide ban).
“Plastic bag ban, which I am very excited about, this is long overdue,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday in a news conference about the budget. “You drive through urban areas in this state and you see plastic bags hanging from trees like some bizarre Christmas ornaments. You see in waterways all across this state, plastic bags. I’ve been fishing 40 miles out in the ocean and you see a parade of these plastic bags just floating by. There was no need, we’ve been trying to get this done, we’ve gotten it done.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, Eric Goldstein, senior attorney and New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council said, “Single-use plastics are a first-class and growing environmental nuisance in and of themselves. This issue is also symbolic of local efforts that can be undertaken to combat larger problems.” Single-use plastics, which are typically made up of some type of polyethylene, are completely non-biodegradable, meaning they will remain in the environment for hundreds of years. Although the numbers vary, scientists claim that plastic bags can take from ten to 1000 years to decompose.
In a city where Chinese take-out bags are the norm and many reuse grocery bags as trash bags, residents will have to adapt to this sudden change. Although businesses have a year to put this measure into effect, some worry that it will drive up overhead costs and therefore prices for consumers as well. Mike Durant, president of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, said in an interview he is concerned by the “failure to give even a portion of the 5-cent [paper bag] fee back to the stores,” which makes the ban “an untenable mandate for many of our members who operate within finite profit margins.”
In the larger scope, New York joins a revitalized movement (thanks to the recent anti-straw movement) against plastic waste. Bag the Ban gives an interactive map of all states, counties, and towns which have enforced some sort of limit on single-use plastic.
In January, D.C. banned plastic straws in all restaurants and businesses after a push from local organizations like Our Last Straw and the Lonely Whale Foundation. Recently, a new progressive proposal has been introduced to Hawaii’s state legislature which would ban most plastic use in restaurants. As an effort against plastic waste in the ocean, restaurants would have to replace traditional plastic takeaway containers and cups with more eco-friendly, compostable options.
“We have this reputation of setting the example for the world to follow, and that’s what we’re trying to do here,” Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, lead author of the more ambitious measure, said to the Senate. “Our state can once again take the lead in protecting our environment.”
