Regionally,
momentum is building for plastic bag bans. Barrington passed a two-year ban
last October. Brookline, Mass., and Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., have passed
such bans. A statewide ban is also moving forward in the Massachusetts
Legislature.
Here
are some of the arguments, pro and con, heard at the April 25 hearing of the
House Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources:
Rep. Maria Cimini, D-Providence, made changes to her bill such as dropping a 10-cent fee on paper bags and keeping the statewide in-store bag collection bins. The move earned approval from the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, which had previously opposed the bill.
Cimini
estimated that Rhode Island stores use more than 164 million plastic bags
annually. “We don’t know how many (plastic bags) are being recycled," she
said. "We do know you see them all over the place.”
Despite
the convenience of plastic bags, Cimini said, “People have been carrying things
around for centuries. Plastic bags have only been around for decades.”
Oyster
farmer Cindy West of Narragansett said she pulls up plastic bags daily from
oyster beds in salt ponds. “The bags just smother the marine life on the
bottom," she said.
Channing
Jones of Environment Rhode Island was the force behind the Barrington ban,
collecting petition signatures and rallying community support. At the hearing,
he argued that bans aren't about recycling rates or the carbon footprint and
pollution created by paper and plastic bags. The goal, he said, is to get
consumers to embrace reusable bags. Plastic bags are simply a nuisance to the
environment that harm wildlife and hurt tourism, he said.
“Banning
(plastic bags) is a commonsense way to address that problem,” Jones said. “It’s
an effective policy with little need for enforcement.”
Environment
Rhode Island has collected 7,300 signatures on a petition for the state ban.
One hundred and thrity businesses also have signed the petition.
Angelo
Kitsilis, owner of Angelo’s Palace Pizza in Cumberland, brought in seven large
paper bags filled with a $109 take-out order to show his opposition to the bag
ban. The switch to paper bags added $2.05 to the order, he said. Plastic bags
are less expensive and reduce the number of bags needed.
“It’s
just not realistic to figure out how many bags an order will be,” he said.
“It’s just not good for business.”
The
Rhode Island Retailers Federation, which represents Walmart and other chain
retailers, also opposes the ban. “This is more about jobs than plastic bags,”
lobbyist Paul DeRoche said.
Cimini
noted that a need for new reusable bags can also create jobs through innovation.
Anthony
Fonseca, co-owner of a bag distributor in Central Falls, has been the most
visible opponent to the ban. He believes that innovation and education will
eventually eliminate the problems associated with plastic bags. A ban, he said,
is an "impediment to business in the state.”
Several
members of the House Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources
expressed support for the bill, which was held for further study. A Senate bag
ban bill was heard April 4.
Proponents
of the bag ban don’t expect the ban to pass this year. But the ban may be part
of a comprehensive waste reform plan under consideration at the Statehouse. It
could also be included in a marine debris bill that focuses on extended producer
responsibility, which requires manufactures and retailers to assume greater
involvement in the disposal of their products and their packaging.
