Seattle Plastic Bag Ban Can Cause More Problems Than It Solves

Incentives not Taxes

Abstract
Many cities and counties across America have introduced policies banning plastic bags, and have found just as much opposition as they have support. Environmentalists argue that plastic bag pollution has major affects around the globe, and that a tax, fee or ban would reduce these problems. Retailers and plastic manufacturers argue that the taxes are unfairly waged against them, and that there are other ways of reducing the pollution by plastic bags. A public tax or ban would result in a greater hardship on lower income families as the fees or costs of reusable bags are proportionately higher for their incomes. Retailers would respond better to tax incentives, and would be more likely to pass these to consumers as price breaks or rewards.

Fees versus Incentives

With the high levels of plastic chemicals in the nation’s rivers and the large accumulation of plastic waste circulating in oceans, plastic bag bans have become popular subjects in America’s cities. These bans and taxes have become a hot-button issue in city and county council meetings across the country. The American chemical and plastic lobbies have spent millions opposing these bans, and environmental groups have continuously lobbied to get them passed.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans consume about 100 billion plastic bags a year. The main arguments for the ban are animal ingestion, and slowing the growth of the Great Garbage Patch circulating in the Pacific Ocean. Whether it is blowing down the street or floating in the water, many animals mistake plastic bags and bag scraps for food, and die resulting from the inability to pass the plastic through their digestive systems. As plastic breaks down in the ocean, it does not dissolve away, rather it becomes small particles that glob together resembling plankton patches. The Pacific Ocean current, specifically has collected the plastic garbage and particles into a patch larger than the state of Texas in a prime marine feeding area. High levels of plastic chemicals have been found in rivers on the East Coast, and as they are bio-identical to some fish hormones, fisheries experts have been finding inter-sex fish in these rivers, affecting their reproduction rates.

Other reasons cities such as Seattle are considering the bans are to curb urban flooding and to improve city aesthetics. Bags can clog gutters and storm drains preventing the drainage of storm water, increasing urban flooding. They can also get caught in trees and fences making an ugly garbage problem even more apparent as cities like Seattle and San Francisco reduce available dumpsters for disposal. The externality costs of plastic bag litter is passed on from the manufacturers and stores to the public through the cities’ disposal process, so the question becomes how to clean it up and who should pay for it.

In 2007, San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags, but still allowed the distribution of paper bags. This resulted in the consumption of 84 million paper bags the year after the ban was passed. Eighty-four million paper bags equates to 72,000 trees felled, 91,2000 pounds of sulphur dioxide emissions, 21.5 million pounds of greenhouse gas, and 40 million gallons of processed waste water from pulp mills. The American Plastics lobby also argues that plastic bags take up significantly less space in city landfills, and that paper bags can take much longer to decompose than thought due to the anaerobic conditions of the landfills. Seattle, in turn has proposed the ban of paper bags in addition to the plastic ban.

A 2002 ban on plastic bag ban in Ireland resulted in a 90% reduction in plastic bag consumption, but also revealed problems with a complete ban. According to Dublin retailers, theft increased with the use of reusable bags as did food-borne illnesses as people did not follow recommendations to wash them regularly. They also saw a large increase in sales of small plastic trash bags as most people reuse plastic shopping bags as liners for small cans.

So what are the alternatives? There are many. Of course, there are the fabric and burlap reusable bags many retailers sell as an alternative to their plastic bags. However, according to French retailer Carrefour, the most environmentally friendly bags are heavy-duty reusable plastic bags. Some advocate biodegradable plastics as an alternative raw material, but they require mass amounts of corn or potatoes for production. Food and livestock feed prices have already increased due to diversion of carbohydrate rich crops for biodiesel and ethanol production. Food price increases affect the poor and working poor much more than those with higher incomes.

Some legislators have suggested a national fee, or tax, on plastic bags which is also regressive towards those with lower incomes. Jim Moran (D-VA) has introduced national legislation that would impose a 5 cent tax on all plastic bags by 2010, increasing to 25 cents by 2015. He claims the tax would divert other costs borne by the public with 1 cent going to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, 1 cent going to state and local trash and watershed programs, and 2 cents applying to the national debt. The other cent would go towards a 1 cent tax credit to participating retailers.

The state of Massachusetts has taken a more centrist approach on the bag problem. Over 500 grocery retailers and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection have teamed up to cut plastic and paper bag consumption by 1/3 in their state by 2013. Currently, 1.5 billion plastic and paper bags are distributed across the state in grocery stores yearly. Retailers are offering free reusable bags or coupons for them along with money back incentives for customers that use them. Other stores have built in-store plastic depots for recycling. Most importantly, the state has decided to give retailers the choice of how to participate in the program.

It makes more sense to provide a tax incentive for reusable bags and plastic bag recycling. Recycled bags are used to produce other plastic bags, but more importantly they are the main component of fire-retardant building material. These plastic lumber products, like Trex, last the lifetime of a home whereas lumber fencing and decking need to be replaced every 10-20 years, if not sooner. Recycling reduces the plastic going into the waterways and landfills, and is less harmful than paper bag or biodegradable bag production. Most importantly, consumers and retailers are more likely to respond positively to a tax incentive rather than a fee or a ban.

References
Kaste, Martin “Debate Over Plastic Bags Heats Up in Seattle” NPR (2009): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111662657. 27 Sep 2009
Eskenazi, Joe “Baggage.” San FranciscoWeekly (2009): www.sfweekly.com/content/printVersion/1297386. 27 Sep.2009
Truini, Joe "Plastic problem." Waste News 10.7 (2004): 1-23. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Oct. 2009.
Johnson, Jim "Paper or plastic?." Waste & Recycling News 14.24 (2009): 22. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Oct. 2009.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources “Frequently Asked Questions about Plastic Shopping Bags” (2009) USA.gov.Web. 1 Oct.2009.
Boyle, Katherine “New Bottle Deposit, Bag Tax Bills Touted for Combating Pollution” New York Times (2009) Moran.House.gov. Web. 1 Oct.2009