Annual Town Meeting ~ 2017: Paper or Plastic? Bedford Votes Bylaw to Ban Plastic Bags

By Linda Pollitz

Margot Fleischman, chair of the Selectmen, presenting Article – Courtesy image (c) Deb Parkhurst, 2017 all rights reserved

At Town Meeting on Monday, March 27voters considered whether the town should eliminate the use of thin-film, single-use plastic bags that are typically provided at checkout at retail stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and the like.Article 10, “Plastic Bag Reduction in Business Establishments,” proposed that alternative (multi-use plastic or paper) or that shoppers bring their own reusable bags to take home their purchases. Currently, 43 Massachusetts cities and towns have already passed such laws, and nine more are considering adopting such laws.

Not all plastic bags were proposed to be prohibited in Bedford. Dry cleaning, newspaper, and produce/bulk food bags (typically without handles) were exempted from the article. It also proposed that anyone found in violation of the bylaw could be fined up to $100.

Selectman Margot Fleischman provided background to the problem of single-use plastic bags: quite simply there are too many of them. The US goes through 100 billion plastic bags annually, and most are discarded after one use. Recycling rates for plastic bags are estimated to be between 3-10 percent each year. Moreover, we cannot recycle them in our curbside recycling bins (Fleischman urged residents to not include them in your weekly bins!). Plastic bags take between 500-1000 years to decompose in the environment and are surpassed only by cigarette butts in littering the roadsides. In fact, you’ll see them all around town.

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She went on to describe the harm to the environment from the use of plastic bags. Australian research estimates that all sea birds have plastic in their systems. Plastic bags can accumulate in animals’ stomachs, lead to blockages, starvation, and death.  But it goes further. When plastic bags break up into tiny pieces that make it into our waterways, they accumulate in marine life and move up the food chain to the fish we consume. Thus, humans end up consuming plastic.

With a little will, Fleischman noted, we can take steps to reduce the use of thin-film, single-use plastic bags and for these reasons, the Selectmen recommended approval of Article 10.

The majority of the Finance Committee members did not support the bylaw, expressing concerns over enforcement, confusion about knowing which bags would be appropriate, and suggesting that legislating such a ban should come first from the state level.

Lines queued up at all of the four microphones to express support and opposition to the proposed bylaw. Speakers expressed concerns about costs that would be passed on to consumers (although retailers already pass along the cost of single-use plastic bags to consumers). Many noted they already reuse their single-use bags. One resident recommended an alternative of using biodegradable plastic bags. Selectman Fleischman clarified that during their investigations, Selectmen learned biodegradable bags don’t break down under normal circumstances and in fact must be sent elsewhere to facilities specially equipped to cause biodegradation. Many speakers passionately expressed support of the bylaw, citing the importance of environmental stewardship.

Some speakers took the Finance Committee to task for suggesting the increase in costs for Code Enforcement, yet not conducting any studies to determine the actual impact of the measure; instead, they noted “it stands to reason” that there would be a cost increase.

Speakers also clarified that indeed there is going to be statewide legislation put forward later this year to ban the use of plastic bags. Paper bags are slightly more expensive than plastic (depending on the amount of ink/printing on them) and their capacity is about the same as a plastic bag.

After a lively discussion and comment period, the measure passed on a voice vote. It will take effect on October 1, 2017.

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