A deliveryman carries dinner in plastic bags in New York in September. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing a five-cent surcharge on plastic bags similar to the one already in place in the United Kingdom. (Frances M. Roberts / NEWSCOM / FILE)
New York mayor proposes plastic-bag surcharge
By Eoin O'Carroll | 11.07.08
In an effort to curb waste and generate revenue, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has called for a 6-cent fee for every plastic shopping bag given to shoppers.
Under the proposal, for each bag, 1 cent would go to the retailer and 5 cents would go to the city. Officials estimate that the surcharge could bring in $16 million a year, offering a revenue boost to a city that faces a $4 billion deficit over the next two years.
The surcharge is technically considered a fee, not a tax, so it needs only to be approved by New York’s City Council, not the state legislature. While this is considered a lower hurdle, the proposal’s passage is by no means assured, as The New York Times reports:
Several City Council members said they were intrigued, but needed to see more details. Several did note, however, that it was only a few months ago that the Council passed — with the help of environmentalists and plastic bag manufacturers — a law requiring all stores that provide plastic bags to accept plastic bags for recycling, with some exceptions. And during the lengthy public debate over that bill, council members heard speakers testify that fees of at least 25 cents a bag needed to be imposed to get consumers to change their behavior.
Another concern is whether the tax would hurt poor residents, as well as small businesses, disproportionately — a concern mentioned by council members, environmentalists and manufacturers alike.
The Neighborhood Retail Alliance, a coalition of food retailers in New York, condemned the charge, saying that it “illustrates clearly how supermarkets, and their customers, are being nickeled and dimed in NYC.”
The Times quotes a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, a trade group that mainly represents plastics and chlorine manufacturers:
“A tax on plastic shopping bags would be regressive, with the most severe impacts on those who are least able to absorb them,” said Keith Christman, senior director of packaging for the American Chemistry Council, a manufacturers’ lobby. “There are better ways to protect the environment, to encourage sustainable choices and to support recycling without making it harder for those who are already struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economy.”
Other cities have attempted to reduce the thin-film bags through fees, taxes, or outright bans. Last year, San Francisco outlawed them for large supermarkets and pharmacies, and earlier this year, Malibu, Fla., banned them for all businesses. Seattle is attempting to impose a 20-cent “green fee” on plastic and paper bags and a ban on some Styrofoam containers, a measure that is being vigorously opposed by the American Chemistry Council. [Note: As a commenter pointed out below, I mischaracterized the city’s foam ban.]
Many other countries have also moved to regulate the bags, including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Eritrea, France, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, and most recently, China.
The Worldwatch Institute estimates that Americans discard some 100 billion bags per year, about 6 or 7 bags per American per week. In 2002, according to WorldWatch, some 4 or 5 trillion of the bags were produced.
Made from petroleum, natural gas, or other fossil fuel derivatives, it’s believe that plastic bags take more than 1,000 years to break down. Many wind up in the ocean, where they can choke and entangle marine birds and mammals, and particularly sea turtles, who have difficulty distinguishing them from jellyfish.
Many of these ocean-going bags eventually find their way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling mass of trash twice the size of Texas.
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2. Alan | 11.10.08
Goodness I hope these mental midgets don’t make their way to other parts of the country. I re-use the bags now quite a bit, they become liners in my garbage cans, they are used for picking up dog [Eoin’s note: Ahem]. None of our bags hit the trash without something in them.
Using this as a revenue source is ignorant and will encourage people to tell NYC to stuff it.
3. Rob | 11.10.08
Regarding Seattle: You’ve misspoken slightly. The foam and bag ordinances were different; there is no fee on foam containers. The foam ban on some food containers passed and goes into effect next year. However the bag fee has been recalled by voters (American Chemistry Council spent $180k to gather the signatures) and will be on the ballot in 2009.
4. mike scarlatos | 11.10.08
While it is not clear whether any economic analysis went into the level of the “fee,” 6 cents, lessons should be noted from the 5 cent tax imposed on certain containers beginning some 30 years ago: they are still at 5 cents despite inflation. So that the “fee” can take into consideration the effect of inflation across time, perhaps it should be a percentage tax.
5. Becky | 11.11.08
I know the answer to “paper or plastic” is neither. So I use cloth bags when I go to the grocery store. But I used to use the plastic bags as trash can liners in the bathroom and bedrooms. And I used to use the paper grocery bags in my kitchen trash can. Now that I use cloth I don’t have either of those anymore. What is the green solution to that?
6. Alan | 11.12.08
Easy Becky.
Go buy trash bags. Bags made thicker and ergo out of more resources.
Or don’t use liners, and instead wash your trashcans every weekend, saving the cost of plastic and using more water..
7. Henry | 11.19.08
Many years ago the Randburg municipality in South Africa was having a problem with waxed coated cardboard containers in which traditional beer was sold being dumped all over the streets. They introduced legislation that required the manufacturers of the beer to label their cartons with a deposit amount. The retailers who sold the product were required to collect a deposit per carton and refund the deposit when an empty carton was returned. The retailers then had to dispose of the cartons in an environmentally friendly way. Of course they also had to ensure that the returned cartons were not just dumped so that innovative recyclers could claim a deposit for a second, third, fourth time.
The results were spectacular. In a very short time the streets were clear of the cartons. Street people/recyclers made sure that not a carton was left lying around.
The responsibilty for the cartons was placed on the manufacturer and retailers who were making the profit on the product, not the user.
A similar method should work for plastic bags.
The retailer must be required to mark the bags with their name and deposit amount and charge/refund the deposit. The retailer must be responsible for disposing of the bags in an environmentally friendly manner. The local authority could charge a levy on the bags to fund the policing of the system.
8. Kate | 11.23.08
We all need to just think a little about what we are saying here… the point is to get away from our reliance on petroleum products and do our part to reduce what goes into our quickly filling landfills. So go out and purchase yourselves some eco friendly bags, recycle more, start a composter (its easy and awesome for your garden) and start using biodegradable bags (found at many retailers) for your dog bowel movements (bags found at petco or petsmart) and trashcans. Try it out for a little while, you won’t notice a difference and hopefully it will delay the landfills from filling up by a couple days.
9. Christopher-Peter: Maingot | 06.05.09
New York, Toronto or “tim buck two….The plastic bag “legislation” or “ACT” is simply another convoluted government “green plan” marketing plan, and again, it’s just putting another target on the consumer’s backs and bucks too. Does anyone truly believe that they (consumers) were getting these plastic bags from the stores (retailers) for free, before? Do you honestly feel loved by your retailers & plastic bag manufacturers? And, you don’t seriously believe “they” were giving away these before this latest “TAX GRAB ACT” right? No! You were paying for it before. The price of the plastic bag was built into the price of your steak and eggs…but now, you’ll simply be paying for it again, because your government is seeing (TAX) to it. I don’t know about others out there, but it seems to me like there is some back scratching going on here folks. If you don’t have a re-usable bag, then you should get some…plastic bags should be out-law-ed all together. Some people are rich and, don’t care about the 5 cents for a plastic bag, or the environment, for that matter!
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1. surya narayan singh | 11.09.08
read about the increase of the average temperature on Earth and about the ice….
http://snsays.com/1773/global-warming-ii/