By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
Editor’s
Note: One of Charlestown’s CCA Party Town Councilors, George Tremblay, is promoting a similar ban here in Charlestown. This is an unusual move since the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance has rarely cared about any environment issue
except open space. While I have rarely agreed with George Tremblay on anything,
this is one where he might be on to something.
Unfortunately,
if such a townwide ban were enacted, it would only be symbolic, since we have a
limited number of places where this would apply – Rippy’s, Mini-Super, Dunkin
Donuts, CVS, Cumberland Farms, Hitching Post (due to reopen in a couple of
weeks with their wonderful clam cakes), etc. It would not apply to visitors who bring plastics in or vehicles tossing it out onto our roadways.
Our chronic
roadside trash problem and low recycling rates need a more holistic
reassessment of Charlestown’s waste management practices. – Will Collette
PROVIDENCE
— Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, is going for the zero-waste trifecta. His
Plastic Waste Reduction Act enacts a simultaneous statewide ban on plastic
bags, Styrofoam and single-serve, plastic water bottles.
Miller
submitted the bill without the
urging of an environmental group. A March Senate hearing was therefore a
lopsided debate, as Miller was the only person to speak in favor of the
legislation. All of the submitted testimony opposed banning these common
sources of litter and instead called for improving recycling programs.
Business
groups such as the American Chemistry Council testified
against the legislation. Lobbyists from the Rhode Island Hospitality Association (RIHA), Rhode
Island Food Dealers Association (RIFDA) and the Dart Container
Corp. also spoke against the bill.
He noted that all
of the items in Miller’s bill are recyclable. He said most plastic bags contain
up to 30 percent of recycled content. Foam to-go containers, he added, are
ideal for popular Rhode Island foods like fish and chips, while they cost about
a tenth of the cost for paper-based takeout containers.
Stephen
Rosario of the American Chemistry Council said foam is maligned and
misunderstood. Like any other container, foam only becomes trash if people
don’t behave responsibly, he said.
“You
are not going to reduce litter by banning one material,” Rosario said. “If I’m
going to litter, it doesn’t matter if I have a paper cup, a compostable cup or
a foam cup.”
The
Rhode island Resources Recovery Corporation (RIRRC), which operators the
Central Landfill in Johnston and manages a statewide plastic bag collection
program, are taking a neutral position on Miller’s proposal. Sarah Reeves,
RIRRC’s director of public policy, programs and planning, touted the success of
a 18-month-old Styrofoam collection program at the Central Landfill.
Michigan-based
Dart Container is the largest maker of Styrofoam coffee cups and food
containers in the world. The company collects foam cups and foam packing at
RIRRC and delivers it to a recycler in Pennsylvania.
Dart also makes the
ubiquitous Solo beer cup, which is made of rigid polystyrene. RIRRC includes
Solo cups in the state recycling stream and both the cups and foam can be
converted into products like tape dispensers and the cores for rolls of receipt
paper.
Reeves
said a voluntary foam drop-off program has been a quiet success, and RIRRC is
considering adding collection sites in the state. Reeves referred to Styrofoam
as a highly recyclable product. In her testimony, she argued for legislation
that places fees on plastic bags, bottles and foam.
The money could fund a
statewide litter-control and abatement program managed by RIRRC. Bans, Reeves
said, are difficult to enforce, manage and monitor, unless they are for highly
toxic substances such as mercury.
Miller
praised Rhode Island’s single-stream recycling program. But, he said, it hasn’t
solved the problem of plastic bags, bottles and foam spoiling Narragansett Bay
and scenic areas and cluttering sidewalks and streets.
“The
world has not come to an end in communities, countries, cities and towns that
have banned plastic bags and/or Styrofoam,” Miller said. “The world won’t come
to an end if we do it here.”
California
votes on a statewide bag ban in November. The state has 108 bag bans in cities
and towns, from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Efforts
to enact a statewide bag ban in Rhode Island have died in committee for four
straight years. Barrington is the only municipality in the state with a bag
ban.
In
2005, Rhode Island enacted legislation that
requires stores with at least 10,000 square feet of space or more than $8
million in sales annually to offer plastic bag collection bins.
Each store must
also report annually how the bags are collected and transported to a recycling
facility. The records are kept by RIRRC.
Eighteen
municipalities in Massachusetts have restrictions on plastic bags. Concord
passed the first ban on single-use water bottles in 2011. An estimated
half-billion water bottles are sold in the United States weekly. Some 2 million
tons of plastic water bottles end up in landfills each year.
A
Styrofoam ban took effect in 2013 in Brookline, Mass. Foam bans have also passed
in Amherst, Great Barrington, Somerville and South Hadley. In 2015, a statewide
ban was introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature.
A
Washington, D.C., ban on foam started in January. Albany, N.Y., Minneapolis,
Oakland, Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle and also prohibit Styrofoam.
A foam ban in New York City was overturned in court, after a judge ruled that
the city hadn't proven that Styrofoam couldn't be recycled.
One
of the main arguments against Styrofoam is that it can’t be recycled. It can,
however, be reconstituted into plastic molding and products such as picture
frames. Cost-effective collection methods, however, haven't been proven on a
large scale in any city, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The
bans in Miller’s bill would begin in 2017. The bill was held for further study.
Miller said he expects a bag ban bill to be introduced in the House.