Bill Calls for Banning Plastic Grocery Bags

Under the measure (A-4555), retail stores with 10,000 square feet of space or more would be required to cut their use of plastic bags in half by Dec. 31, 2009 and eliminate their use entirely by Dec. 31, 2010, according to the bill''s sponsors, Assemblymen Herb Conaway and Jack Conners (D-Burlington).

During the phase out, the big retail stores would be required to set up bins to allow customers to return used plastic bags as part of an in-store recycling program. "We need to get these bags out of the waste stream because they are polluting our soil and our water," Conaway said. "Plastic bags may be cheap and convenient, but they have costly long-term environmental consequences that just can’t be ignored." Added Conners, "These bags clutter landfills, they blow around in trees, they clog drains, and they float into waterways where they harm marine life." Plastic bags—introduced in 1977—now account for 90 percent of grocery bags in the United States.

Under the bill, plastic-bag manufacturers would be required to develop educational materials to encourage the reduction, reuse and recycling of the bags and to make the materials available to retailers.

In March, San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to ban use of plastic bags at large supermarkets. In July, California enacted a law that requires large stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse. The New York City Council also has introduced legislation calling for the recycling of plastic bags, according to the Assembly Democrats.

Several nations have taken initiatives to cut down the use of plastic bags. In 2002, Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags, reducing their use by 90 percent, the Democrats said. Some communities in Australia have banned them in retail stores since 2003.

According to the bill, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, which is over 1 million bags per minute. It’s estimated that billions of plastic bags end up as litter each year. Non-biodegradable plastic bags take longer than paper to deteriorate in the environment and can kill animals and marine life, the sponsors said.