Concerns about the potential for spreading the new coronavirus spurred at least four states and many more municipalities to stall or suspend plastic bag regulations early on during the pandemic. Some of those suspensions are now expiring, while others remain in place with an unclear timeline — potentially impacting recycling operations and the broader waste stream.
Those suspensions added to a public debate over plastics, with proponents saying the pandemic has shown the value of single-use bags. Environmental groups have struck a careful tone on the suspensions and a number of “zero waste” advocates told Waste Dive the priority for lawmakers should be public health, even as they dispute the benefit of abandoning reusable items.
But plastic bags are contaminants in the waste stream and some recyclers are wary of moves to prolong suspensions of regulations. Kate Davenport, co-president of the nonprofit Minnesota-based Eureka Recycling, told Waste Dive that her organization has been involved in conversations with local grocery stores about decisions to suspend plastic bag collection, for example, and related issues that could ultimately affect MRFs.
“The long-term trend there is concerning,” she said, speaking about the potential for a resurgence in single-use bags.
Swift decisions stall growing momentum
When the pandemic first ramped up nationally, knowledge about how the virus spread was in preliminary stages. Initial research showed it could live on certain surfaces for up to three days — including plastics and stainless steel — and concern over the potential for transmission via reusable items spurred swift action from state and local officials.
But testing for viruses on surfaces is tricky and the coronavirus is no different. The research cited to justify single-use plastics over reusable items has been partially linked to industry, drawing scrutiny from critics. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found the virus is largely spread person-to-person, as opposed to surface-to-person. Even so, the agency has also advised using disposable items at establishments like restaurants.
The CDC guidance sends mixed messages, Kirstie Pecci, director of the Zero Waste Project at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), told Waste Dive. She pointed to the emerging science around the virus and said it is time for the reusable bag suspensions to lift and for establishments to consider shifting away from single-use plastics. CLF has been lobbying officials in Massachusetts to lift the state’s temporary ban on reusable bags.
“We wanted to be careful. Now that we have more information, we know that single-use plastics are not part of the answer,” said Pecci.
Environmental groups expressed concern that the pandemic-related embrace of plastics could slow the momentum behind efforts to adopt legislation banning plastic bags. That momentum has been building at the local and state level, with federal efforts also moving forward through the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which debuted in early February and would ban plastic carry-out bags among other provisions.
The New York legislature has passed a ban on most expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam products as part of its FY21 budget package. State lawmakers reached a deal on the budget during overtime negotiations earlier this week, with final passage early Friday morning.
The budget language targets EPS foodware containers and loose fill packaging. Food trucks, restaurants, delis, caterers and both grocery and retail stores are included, while uncooked eggs, meat, and fish are exempted, as is pre-packaged food sealed prior to delivery.
New York will join Maine, Vermont, and Maryland, which all have their own forms of EPS bans in place. The statewide EPS ban will take effect by January 2022, with fines for violations beginning at $250, and rising in increments before hitting $2,000 for a fourth violation. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has touted the ban as a key pillar of his broader environmental agenda.
Some states are pausing or rejecting limitations on plastics due to concerns over COVID-19, making New York’s ban stand out. The new coronavirus has disrupted state legislative efforts during what had been a record season in many areas for bills targeting plastics. Those pieces of legislation had been gaining momentum in several states, with focuses ranging from single-use plastic bags and straws to EPS containers and recycled content requirements.
Now, New York’s EPS restrictions mark a rare step forward for legislation targeting plastics at a time when other efforts have largely come to a halt. New York City already has an EPS ban in place — following a lengthy legal battle — and the new legislation allows that ban to remain in place.
In addition to New York, Washington state has also opted to go forward with its crackdown on plastics. During a shortened session, the state legislature saw an uptick in legislation focused on plastics, with significant support from environmental groups. Gov. Jay Inslee signed SB 5323 — banning single-use plastic bags — on March 25, with the law set to take effect in 2021. Another bill focused on recycled content minimums, HB 2722, has meanwhile passed both legislative bodies and is waiting for Inslee’s signature.
Those moves run counter to a growing near-term trend in other states. As the coronavirus pandemic has worsened, state governments have grown concerned about contamination risks. Early-stage research on the virus indicates it can live up to three days on plastics in certain conditions, while little is known about its relationship with textiles. But officials have acted swiftly, with a particular emphasis on plastic bags.
States are changing policies as an old debate gains new traction. Research shows consumers could wash reusables more, but there’s no clear proof single-use bags are less likely to spread coronavirus.
Permission granted by Kroeger
Leslie Nemo reports for WasteDive
Coronavirus upheaval has halted evictions, converted factories into ventilator and hand sanitizer producers and reshaped lives. The virus also seems to be disrupting something unexpected: Plastic bag bans.
Like most responses to the pandemic, initial steps came at the local level, with cities and states pulling back on proposed or enacted bag bans. Some of these choices are based on logistical issues: Boston reinstated their use, citing a need for stores to serve customers any way they can, for example. Massachusetts followed suit with more drastic measures: banning reusable bags and preempting local bag bans across the entire state. Maine has delayed its planned ban, which was supposed to kick-off on April 22nd. Connecticut lifted a 10-cent fee on plastic bags that just went into place last year and Hawaii County, Hawaii has also suspended its own plastic bag ban.
Another state taking a stance during the pandemic linked its choice to sanitation concerns — something the Plastics Industry Association echoed in a letter to federal health authorities. New Hampshire temporarily banned reusable bag use, which Gov. Chris Sununu tweeted was because of concerns the bags could spread the virus. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Plastics Industry Association requested that the agency issue a statement on what the association calls “the health and safety benefits seen in single-use plastics.”
This claim comes despite the fact that experts Waste Dive spoke with aren’t aware of any scientific evidence that single-use plastic bags are less likely to spread SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, an industry association promoting plastic bag use, declined to offer any evidence proving its product is less prone to spreading the virus. While preexisting public health research indicates shoppers could be keeping their reusable bags cleaner, emerging research on the brand-new virus shows details are still evolving about where and how long the pathogen can survive.
As preliminary as much of the coronavirus information is, it is worth nothing that major public health bodies have yet to issue a statement on risks from reusable bags, John Hocevar, the oceans campaign director of Greenpeace, told Waste Dive. “Trust the health professionals first and foremost,” he said. “This is not an alarm they’re raising.”
Epidemiologists still have a lot to learn about COVID-19. Experts believe the primary transmission mode is via respiratory droplets, which people inhale from one another if they stand too close. It’s possible those specks of moisture land on surfaces, and that people could touch virus-laden materials and then touch their faces, giving themselves the disease. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t think this is the main way SARS-CoV-2 spreads, the risk is part of why the agency recommends frequent hand-washing and disinfecting regularly-touched items in the home.
As for how long the virus survives on surfaces without a soapy or disinfectant intervention, researchers only have preliminary estimates. Initial research in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the pathogen lingers on stainless steel and plastic for two to three days, and cardboard for about 24 hours. Other new research on viruses related to SARS-CoV-2, in the Journal of Hospital Infection, shows those pathogens can persist on paper or PVC for up to five days.
No published studies have assessed SARS-CoV-2 survival on textiles or paper, however. Lab tests also hold humidity and room temperature constant for an entire week. If those conditions change — as they do in real life — survival situations can change, as noted in a March 25 webinar by the American Society of Safety Professionals.
There’s also been little investigation into whether reusable shopping bags spread disease. In 2018, a team of public health researchers sprayed reusable grocery bags with fake norovirus particles, handed them to shoppers and swabbed every surface the customer touched. The researchers picked up the fake virus with every swab and found the highest concentrations on the shopper’s hands, the checkout stand and the clerk’s hands.
With hands serving as hot-spots for this fake virus, the study backs up how important hand washing and hygiene are. “That’s really boring, probably, to hear,” said Ryan Sinclair, study co-author and public health researcher at Loma Linda University. But the sanitation measure is important.
Because their work also showed that reusable bags spread the fake virus around the store, Sinclair said he thinks it’s worth switching to disposable bags for the time being. Bags from home touch cars, grocery carts, conveyor belts and people’s hands. Sinclair thinks it’s important to minimize the amount of crossover between public and private spaces during the current health crisis.
“We need to work to minimize the wasteful use of plastics,” he said, “but while we’re in this pandemic, we definitely need to find another solution.”
His 2018 research didn’t receive any outside funding, though a PR group recently reached out to Sinclair to write about his thoughts on reusable bag use during the pandemic. The Plastics Industry Association letter to HHS also mentioned an attached affidavit from Sinclair supporting its claim that disposable bags are more sanitary. When asked if those behind the Plastics letter hired the PR group to contact Sinclair for the statement, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance declined to participate in this story.
The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance also declined to comment when asked for scientific evidence indicating that single-use plastic bags are less likely to spread SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses. The lack of evidence presented has sustainability advocates skeptical of these claims.
If the pathogen lingers on plastic, disposable bags are as susceptible to hosting the virus as reusable plastic versions, said Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics and a former U.S. EPA regional administrator. Plus, Enck said, “the bags have traveled the world and have been sitting in the store where a lot of people are,” and aren’t immune to being sneezed on or coughed over.
Additionally, reusable bags can get washed, a solution that public health researchers and waste reduction advocates agree on. A 2011 survey — which received support from the American Chemistry Council, an organization supported by plastics producers — found that 97% of shoppers never wash their reusable bags.
Since the research also found a sampling of reusable bags harbored potentially-harmful bacteria, Chuck Gerba, a University of Arizona researcher who wrote the paper along with Sinclair, agrees with his co-author. For now, shoppers should use disposable bags and eventually return to reusable options. When relying on reusables again, “treat them like your underwear,” Gerba said. Wash them after every use and don’t use them for anything besides groceries.
Enck points out that the bacteria Gerba found on reusable bags isn’t necessarily a stand-in for viruses, and thinks it’s worth simply advocating for better bag sanitation now.
“I am very concerned about the coronavirus, and if I saw anything to suggest that reusable bags are a problem, I would say let’s pause on them for a while,” she said. Without that evidence, Enck thinks it’s preferable to wash bags regularly and be mindful of where they go. “You know when you washed it and who else was touching it.”
Enck thinks this approach of more thoroughly and regularly cleaning reusable items can carry over into our post-pandemic life, too. Though the plastic industry paints reusables as unsanitary, the appeal of being in control of who touches and washes your mugs and bags might ultimately win over consumers, Enck said. In a sign that not every state shares long-term sanitation fears over reusable bags, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation last week enacting a plastic bag ban starting January 2021.
In the meantime, the lack of definitive evidence for the sanitary superiority of single-use bags indicates that the single-use plastic industry is trying to capitalize on people’s fear, in Greenpeace’s view. Without that proof, Hocevarsaid, perhaps conversations should be dedicated to clearer, pressing concerns.
“I would like to see the focus of our conversation about health and safety right now focused on the threats that we know are real,” he said.
Related news stories: NJ enviro groups support 54 towns in retaining plastic bag bans NJ’s leading environmental groups are reaching out to support and help NJ’s 54 mayors and towns defend their single use plastics bag bans in response to what they call a bullying and misinformation campaign by Plastics industry and the NJ Food Council InsiderNJ
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Among the list of bills posted for a vote Thursday (3/5/20) in the New Jersey Senate, are two ‘biggies’ that are being reconsidered in the new legislative session (with some changes) after falling short of enactment last year.
They are the much-reported ban on plastic and paper grocery bags (S-864) and the recycling of food waste by large-scale generators (A2371/ S865).
To watch and listen to the live session (generally starting sometime after 2 p.m.) click here. After entering the site, click on the large, red Live Proceedings button. If you arrive after the session is over, click on the Archived Proceedings button for a session re-run. NOTE: If the session has not started when you first access the site, you will need to refresh your browser occasionally until the proceedings have begun.
Environmental bills posted for votes on Thursday:
Bill: A2371 AcaAca (2R) Sponsors: Kennedy (D22); Pinkin (D18); Zwicker (D16) Summary: Requires large food waste generators to separate and recycle food waste and amends definition of “Class I renewable energy.”
Bill: S221 Sponsors: Diegnan (D18) Summary: Concerns expenses to municipalities for tree purchase, planting, and removal.
Bill: S864 ScaSa (2R) Sponsors: Smith (D17); Greenstein (D14) Summary: Prohibits provision or sale of single‑use plastic carryout bags, single‑use paper carryout bags, and polystyrene foam food-service products; limits the provision of single‑use plastic straws; appropriates the money from Clean Communities Program Fund
Bill: S865 Sponsors: Smith (D17); Bateman (R16) +1 Summary: Requires large food waste generators to separate and recycle food waste and amends the definition of “Class I renewable energy.”
Bill: S1016 Scs (SCS) Sponsors: Smith (D17) Summary: Restricts the use of neonicotinoid pesticides; directs DEP to study, and authorizes the DEP to restrict systemic insecticides.
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hands out reusable grocery bags at the Union Square Farmers Market ahead of the March 1st statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. Taidgh Barron photo
New York statewide plastic bag ban began on Sunday — but actual enforcement won’t start for a month, officials said Friday.
State authorities agreed Thursday to delay penalizing stores violating New York’s ban of single-use plastic bags until April 1 after grocers filed a last-minute lawsuit to try and block the law.
Officials announced the deal after a closed-door preliminary Supreme Court hearing in Albany.
“We have consistently said since the beginning of our outreach campaign that we will focus on education rather than enforcement and today does not change that,” said a spokeswoman at the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, adding it was “pleased” that a temporary restraining order wasn’t issued.
Mayor de Blasio, meanwhile, was down in Union Square Friday boosting the policy while city staffers dished out 2,000 reusable tote bags to passers-by.
“We only have one chance to save our planet,” de Blasio said. “Reducing the use of plastic bags will help us create a more sustainable city. New Yorkers: Don’t forget to bring your reusable bag to shop starting on March 1, and if you need a bag, we’ve got you.”
Here’s what New Yorkers need to know about the ban:
What’s going on?
A new law passed by state lawmakers Albany last March bans plastic bags at most stores and allows retailers to charge a 5-cent fee for each paper bag. The policy takes effect March 1, but the state will wait a month before dishing out fines.
Why?
The legislation aims to reduce litter and help protect wildlife in the Empire State, where more than 23 billion plastic bags are used a year, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Which stores will be affected?
All shops that collect sales tax, including grocery stores, bodegas and retailers across Empire State.
Once enforcement begins in April, stores caught in violation of the ban will first be issued a verbal warning. The penalty for a second violation is $250 and the penalty for a third or subsequent violation is $500.
What isn’t affected?
Plastic bags can still be doled out for uncooked meat, bulk items, takeout at restaurants and prescription drugs.
What can shoppers do instead?
Bring your own reusable bag made from cotton, recycled polypropylene or other materials. You can also buy one at some stores, or pay the extra 5-cent fee for a paper sack. That’s if one is available — retailers are predicting a shortage when the ban hits.
Where does the 5 cents go?
Two cents is given to local government and 3 cents goes to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.
In Thailand, where a major plastic bag ban went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, shoppers are trying out creative new ways to transport their groceries, like wheelbarrow shopping above or the plant pot carryout method, below.
Justin Auciello reports for WHYY
New Jersey environmentalists are lamenting the state Assembly’s failure to vote on a comprehensive ban on single-use plastic, the most stringent of its type in the nation.
The legislation targets the sale of single-use plastic items, including single-use plastic straws, shopping bags and polystyrene containers, and paper bags. The Senate voted favorably on the statewide ban on Monday but the legislation was not posted by a vote by the Assembly.
The ban on single-use plastic and paper bags would be implemented after one year, and a ban on polystyrene containers, such as Styrofoam, would take effect after two years. Plastic straws would only be permitted by customer request.
And that lack of action is angering environmentalists.
Representatives of Clean Ocean Action, a regional coalition based in Sandy Hook that fights for clean water off the New Jersey and New York coastlines, said they’re disappointed, but will continue to fight and work with local municipalities to expand and build upon the foundation already set. Forty-eight towns have already taken action against single-use plastics.
‘Environmental Protection 101’
“How many more whales, turtles and other marine life must die before our elected leaders act? Single-use plastics cause needless misery and blight,” said Cindy Zipf, the organization’s executive director. “We call upon the Legislature to get a bill on Governor Murphy’s desk no later than Earth Day that would ban these initial plastics within the year. No more excuses. This is Environmental Protection 101.”
During Clean Ocean Action’s beach sweeps in 2018, volunteers removed more than 450,000 pieces of debris, with plastics accounting for the vast majority of items.
New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel said the lack of a vote on the legislation “failed the people of New Jersey.”
“Because of these setbacks, we will redouble our efforts to get this comprehensive plastic bag ban passed in the next session. We will keep going until the Legislature acts and passes a full statewide ban,” he said.
Critics said the legislation was unnecessary because of advances in recycling technology. Others decried one aspect of the proposal that would force food retailers like grocery stores to give away reusable bags for free for the first two months of the ban.
An October 2019 Monmouth University poll found that about two in three New Jersey residents said they supported a plastic bag ban, but many backed away from that zeal when presented with specifics about how it would impact their shopping habits.
When given several options, only 31% of respondents supported a complete ban on single-use plastic bags. Another 27% suggested that consumers should pay a fee for the bags, and 39% stated that stores should be able to continue to give them out for free.
Senate ready to vote to amend a statewide ban on single-use bags, but the legislation’s future is still uncertain in Assembly
The measure “is not dead yet, but it is on life support,’’ says Jeff Tittel of the NJ Sierra Club.
Tom Johnson reports for New Jersey Spotlight
A last-ditch bid to salvage a proposed statewide ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, as well as other plastics, inched forward in the Senate on Thursday — but the bill still remains on life support, at best.
In an unexpected move, the Senate voted to amend a bill once hailed as the United States’ most comprehensive ban on single-use bags during a tumultuous penultimate lame-duck legislative session that featured contentious debates on banning vaping products and other issues.
The critical amendments, approved by a 22-0 vote without any debate, would delay the ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, as well as polystyrene cups, for two years. The original bill put a ban on single-use plastic bags in one year, and paper bags in two years.
The new bill also deals with a significant issue for big-chain grocery stores. Under the old version of the bill, stores would have had to provide free reusable bags for two months after the law takes effect. In the amended version, the money to provide those reusable bags would come out of the Clean Communities program, an effort to reduce litter in New Jersey.
The issue is one that grocery stores and others had lobbied for, as the new bill would prevent low-margin profit facilities from having to take on new costs for their businesses.
“The 2-2-2 is a compromise to get this bill over the finish line,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, one of many conservation organizations that have made passing the bill a top priority. Gov. Phil Murphy conditionally vetoed a different version of the bill in 2018.
In the interim, more than 30 municipalities and two counties have passed bans on plastic bags. Under the bill, current towns’ bans would not be pre-empted, but subsequent bans by local governments would be prohibited.
‘On life support’
Both proponents and opponents of the bill say, at least at this point, it is unlikely the Assembly will adopt the revised bill, but those projections are typically subject to change on the last day of the lame-duck session on Monday.
“It’s our hope we will see a detailed discussion on polystyrene recycling in the next session,’’ said Dennis Hart, executive director of the Chemistry Industry Council of New Jersey, which has opposed the bill.
“It is not dead yet, but it is on life support,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “There is no guarantee that the Assembly will pick it up, but it is critical they act on the bill.’’
Sen. Bob Smith, a Middlesex Democrat who has pushed the legislation, has vowed to take up the bill — if it does not pass in the lame-duck session — early in the next year.
The legislation is among several environmental bills awaiting action, including measures to promote electric vehicles, spur private investment in making government facilities more energy-efficient, and promote new transmission projects to bring offshore wind to New Jersey customers. All are expected to be voted on in Monday’s final legislative session of the term.
Sponsors may be forced to walk back a provision in their single-use, bag-ban bills dealing with the provision of free reusable bags.
By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor
Legislation to ban single-use plastic and paper bags seemed to be racing toward passage in New Jersey but amendments added last week in the Senate Budget Committee blindsided the supermarket industry and caused a ruckus. So much so that the legislation was pulled yesterday from the agenda of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee.
What went wrong?
Thelatest version would require large grocery stores to provide their customers with free, reusable bags for up to two months after the bill takes place.
The New Jersey Food Council was surprised by the change and argued that it would cost a single chain with 30 stores in the state $1.8 million over the two months.
Food Council Executive Director Linda Doherty said that would constitute an unconstitutional ‘taking,’ something that the bill’s Assembly sponsor, John McKeon, seemed to concede when asked about the provision yesterday in the Assembly committee.
Doherty suggested that, rather than providing a free, reusable bag to customers every time they visit a store for two months, grocers would be willing to work with organizations like Clean Communities to provide a limited distribution of free, reusable bags at community events.
Although the current legislative session ends in mid-January, we think it’s still a safe bet that a bag ban will end up on the governor’s desk before then. There are too many parties all agreeing that the legislation is necessary to prevent an ultimate compromise.
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Kevin Rector reports for the Baltimore Sun Oct 7, 2019 | 5:30 pm
A Baltimore City Council committee sided with retailers and against environmentalists in amending a proposed ban on plastic bags so that it only applies to particularly thin bags. In this file photo, a plastic bag is shown along a Virginia road.
A Baltimore City Council committee sided with retailers by voting Monday to amend a proposed ban on plastic bags so that it only applies to particularly thin bags, a move that upset environmentalists and the bill’s sponsor.
The amendment reduced the proposed threshold for banned bags from 4 mils — a mil is one thousandth of an inch — to 2.25 mils.
Retailers say bags that are 2.25 mils are reusable, and so should not be banned.
Environmentalists say such bags are barely distinguishable from the thinner grocery bags that can be found strewn throughout the community, and often enter the waste stream after a single use — just like the more common, thinner bags that still would be banned.
Democratic Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, vice chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, called the proposal “ridiculous” and asked that it be tabled so that members could have more time to consider it. She was particularly concerned she hadn’t heard of the proposed change before Monday’s meeting. Democratic Councilwoman Shannon Sneed asked committee members to delay any vote until they could examine bags of different thicknesses.
But Councilman Eric Costello, the committee chairman, was joined by councilmen John Bullock, Leon Pinkett and Robert Stokes in a 4-2 vote approving the change, which Costello said was also supported by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Council President Brandon Scott. All are Democrats.
Democratic Councilman Bill Henry, the bill’s sponsor, worried retailers “could just continue to use plastic bags” under the amended language. He also said the added thickness of the permitted bags would not be enough to encourage their reuse by customers — leaving the city much in the same position as it is now.
“Nobody is going to keep one of those slightly thicker plastic bags in their trunk so they can go back next week and shop with it again,” said Henry, who is not a member of the committee.
“Nobody is going to keep one of those slightly thicker plastic bags in their trunk so they can go back next week and shop with it again.”
Henry said he would do additional research on the issue.
Representatives of retailers and grocery chains in the city who attended the work session said that bags that are 2.25 mils thick are reusable, which is why the “industry standard” for plastic bag bans nationally is a 2.25 mils threshold.
Kate Breimann, an advocate with the organization Environment Maryland who also attended the hearing, said the amendment was bad policy.
“The term ‘reusable plastic’ is a misnomer,” she said, and the amendment “really compromises the integrity of the bill.”
She said she was frustrated that she and other environmental advocates were not asked to testify, while industry representatives were asked to do so.
The committee remains hung up on other aspects of the legislation, including a proposed fee for customers who choose paper bags at checkout and how much of that amount retailers could keep.
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