E.A. Crunden@eacrunden reports for WasteDive

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.

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