A year ago a plan was proposed by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to ban single-use plastic bags. It would be the second statewide ban after California who banned bags back in 2016. Now, that plan has become a reality and New York’s ban will officially begin March 2020. Legislators seek to curb the unsightly and omnipresent source of litter through this new law.
This move was an absolute necessity, not only to limit the flow of litter into the state’s streets, streams and oceanfront, but also to minimize the greenhouse emissions caused by their production. Cuomo said in a statement that “These bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways,” adding that the plan would be a way to “protect our natural resources for future generations of New Yorkers.”
Once the ban is in effect, stores will be forbidden to provide customers with single-use plastic bags, which are non-biodegradable and have been blamed for everything from causing gruesome wildlife deaths to thwarting recycling efforts. The ban does have a few exceptions: food takeout bags used by restaurants, bags used to wrap deli or meat counter products, bags for bulk items, newspaper bags, garment bags, and bags sold in bulk such as trash or recycling bags.
An additional element to the plan includes allowing counties to opt into a 5-cent fee on paper bags. The revenue would go to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund as well as a separate fund to buy reusable bags for consumers. “There was a real understanding that there should be a ban on plastic and that if people go to paper rather than reusables, we are not that better off,” said Todd Kaminsky, a Democratic state senator from Nassau County, who is the chairman of the environmental conservation committee.
However, some of the officials at the State Assembly (dominated by Democrats) opposed making the paper bag fee mandatory. They worried that the fee would act as a regressive tax on poor consumers. Therefore, the fee is optional. Of course, that provision left some environmental advocates disappointed; they argue that by not mandating a paper-bag fee, many people will simply use paper bags instead of reusable bags. Peter Iwanowicz, the executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York, said the provision to make paper-bag fees optional made the proposed plan “a weak response to the scourge of disposable bags.” He argues that “New York had a chance to show real leadership and came up short.”
There is also the point that all the money from the paper bag fees goes to the government. That leaves little motivation for businesses to want to go through the trouble of imposing it. “The failure to give even a portion of the 5-cent fee back to the stores, makes this an untenable mandate for many of our members who operate within finite profit margins,” said Mike Durant, the president of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State. He added, “We are disappointed that the Legislature did not consider this alternative and failed to hear the concerns of the business community.”
Overall, the people are pleased the ban has been accepted and is being executed. Kaminsky said, “I think we’ll look back in a few years and people will wonder why we didn’t do this sooner.”
