Plastic Bag Wars Continue

Plus Packaging Inc. is fully aware of the debate over paper vs. plastic vs. non-woven eco-friendly bags. The bottom line is that people still need bags to carry things; that is not going to change. Recycling plastic bags is one option, and strongly being considered in many states. Some states require bio-degradeable or sun-degradable bags.

All of these  are good ideas. We offer a complete line of custom bag solutions, and for 31+ years have been doing our part to promote conservation, and eco-friendly products.

The following is a recent NY Times article relating to these continuing “Plastic Bags Wars” originally published 8/2009:

In the wake of Seattle voters’ decisive rejection of a proposed 20-cent fee on paper and plastic bags, opponents of disposable shopping bags have vowed to press for an all-out ban on the bags.

“A ban would be the logical next step,” said Brady Montz, the Seattle chairman of the Sierra Club and one of the anti-bag campaign leaders.

San Francisco, he noted, banned non-biodegradable plastic bags in 2007, following consideration of a fee.

Despite losing the Seattle vote (the tally as of this writing is at 58 percent opposed and 42 percent in favor), Mr. Montz also presented the bag campaign as having raised awareness of the problems created by plastic bags. “I’m very happy with all the work we’ve done in elevating the issue,” he said.

Defenders of plastic bags, however — who argue that plastic bag bans drive consumers to paper bags, which come with their own environmental problems — were ecstatic with the Seattle results. “If the people of Seattle don’t go for this, then nobody will,” said Stephen Joseph, the campaign manager for savetheplasticbag.com. 

A number of smaller communities, besides San Francisco, have recently enacted bans or fees on bags. The city council of Edmonds, another city in Washington, has approved a provision barring stores from distributing plastic bags. So has a city in Alaska (where one resident told the Anchorage Daily News that the bags “get caught on the willow bushes on the tundra”).

Palo Alto also has banned local grocers from distributing bags, triggering a lawsuit from plastic bag backers. (That suit was recently settled when the city agreed to do an environmental impact study before expanding the ban to other retailers.)

Emily Utter of ChicoBag, a reusable bag maker, predicts that Portland, Ore., could soon become a battleground. (Her company’s Web site provides a list of places that have enacted or considered bag bans or fees.)

Some states have enacted laws requiring recycling of the bags. Delaware’s governor signed a law this week requiring large retailers to provide in-store bag recycling, and California and New York have similar requirements, according to Earth911.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Business, Eco Corner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.