Greening Austin Daily

Draft of Plastic Bag Ban Presented To City Commission

12th December, 2011 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

City employees have spent several months drafting a plastic bag ban proposal, and that proposal will be presented to the City’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee this Wednesday at 6:30 PM at city hall.  The public is welcome to come and share comments.  According to the Statesman, under the proposal, from January 2013 to December 2015, single-use plastic and paper bags still available at stores, but only upon customer request and at a 25-cent fee for each bag.  Starting January 2016, there would be a complete ban for single-use paper and plastic bags, with no option to charge from single-use bags.  The 2 stages of the ban is an attempt to try and phase in the change.  Under the proposal, there are also several exemptions, including restaurant carryout bags; dry cleaning bags, yard waste and newspaper bags; bags for produce, fish, meats, frozen foods, bulk foods and prescription drugs; bags for beer, wine and spirits.  Stores may also request permission to deviate slightly from the ban if they think the terms of the ban would cause undue hardship to their clientele.  The Texas Retailers Association, is, as they have been all along, unhappy with the proposal to ban plastic bags in Austin:

The Texas Retailers Association, which represents grocery stores, pharmacies and other retailers statewide, has resisted a ban and said it is disappointed with the details of the draft.

Ronnie Volkening, the group’s president, said Friday that the 25-cent fee would be one of the highest in the nation.

“It will have a hugely regressive impact on low-income citizens and families,” he said.

He also said the ban unfairly exempts some plastic goods, such as dry cleaning bags, while targeting large retailers that have worked hard to cut down on plastic bags by promoting recycling and reuse. Enacting a ban would be a disincentive for retailers to continue to accept plastic bags and other plastic products for recycling, meaning many more of those products could end up in landfills, he said.

I for one am very happy with what I’ve heard about the proposal and look forward to learning more!