Green Packaging Working Group — Portland, ME
Date: 2013-06-25

CITY OF PORTLAND, MAINE
 Agenda

 Green Packaging Working Group Task Force

DATE: 6/25/2013
TIME: 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Portland City Hall
 Room 24
 AGENDA
1. Review and refine objectives of the group regarding single use plastic bags
2. Review summary of approaches used by other communities to manage plastic
 bags
3. Discussion of next steps: How do members wish to frame discussion moving
 forward? What info do members wish to present and/or review during the next
 meeting?
Green Packaging Working Group
May 6, 2013

In attendance: Troy Moon, Portland Public Services; Jennifer Thompson, Corporation
Counsel’s Office; Michele Brooks, Portland citizen; Alexandra Fields, Environment
Maine; Ron Adams, Portland Public Schools; Ed Suslovic, Chairperson; Ted Koffman,
Maine Audubon Society; Martin Fisher, Serlin Haley; Danny Bouzianis, Dunkin Donuts;
Richard Grotton, Maine Restaurant Association; Deb Hart, Retail Association of Maine;
Shelley Doak, Maine Grocers Association; Steve Rosario, American Chemistry Council;
John Morin, ecomaine; Cathy Ramsdell, Friends of Casco Bay; Matthew Faulkner,
Surfrider; Sally Trice, Portland citizen
17:08

 The meeting of the Green Packaging Working Group opened at 5:08 p.m. in
Room 24 of Portland City Hall on May 6, 2013.

1. Approval of Minutes

 Steve Rosario of the American Chemistry Council had several changes to the
minutes of April 8th. On page two, he clarified that he did not state that he said
“…polystyrene is not the only environmentally damaging substance….” instead he said
that “all substances in use in foodware have issues.” He also asked that the minutes
reflect that on page four John Morin of ecomaine stated that ecomaine does recycle paper
cups. Lastly, Mr. Rosario asked that the minutes reflect that he had issues that he had
wanted to raise during the previous meeting, but did not have an opportunity to do so at
the end of the meeting.

 Martin Fisher of Dart Packaging raised the issue of a list of exemptions he had
submitted, Chairman Suslovic said that his list and any other proposed amendments
would be considered during this evening’s deliberations.

 The minutes were approved as amended.

2. Review and Final Discussion of Draft Polystyrene Ordinance

 Jennifer Thompson of the City’s Corporation Counsel Office explained the
proposed polystyrene ordinance in detail, beginning with the findings and purposes
section. Mr. Rosario reiterated that it was his opinion, as one who had worked in the
industry for 22 years, that there were factual errors in the findings section. Ms. Thompson
continued the explanation, including the staff-added language regarding the definitions
and exemptions.

 Chairman Suslovic asked for any clarifying questions from the committee.
Hearing none, he asked for a motion. Ted Koffman of Maine Audubon moved to accept
the ordinance as written; Cathy Ramsdell of the Friends of Casco Bay seconded the
motion.

 1
Discussion:

 Mr. Fisher introduced the list of amendments he prepared, noting that all but one
had been taken from the materials that had been submitted to the task force. He asked that
the task force take up and move each amendment separately.

 Mr. Fisher moved an amendment, taken from Freeport’s ordinance, to make the
City’s ordinance null and void if an effective polystyrene recycling program was
implemented. Mr. Rosario seconded the motion.

 Chairman Suslovic asked about definition of recycling, if it was “bringing it to”
Riverside or single sort curbside. Mr. Fisher clarified that his definition gave the City the
flexibility to decide. Mr. Koffman asked who decided what an “effective recycling
program” was. Mr. Fisher responded the City was. Michele Brooks of Portland asked if
the full decision was unquestionably up to the city. Mr. Fisher answered that the City had
to give it its stamp of approval. Ms. Brooks made an amendment, agreed to by Mr.
Fisher, that language be added clarifying that any effective recycling program required
City approval. Mr. Rosario asked that no specific business be named as the administrator
of any recycling program. Matthew Faulkner of Surfrider asked that any recycling
program have a reuse component to it. Deb Hart of the Retail Association of Maine noted
that new technology emerges constantly, and further definition within the ordinance
could hamstring the city. Mr. Faulkner reiterated that any recycling program should have
a reuse component. The vote was taken, and the motion carried 11-3.

 Mr. Fisher moved that the City draw up a list of suitable, affordable
biodegradable alternatives for retail and restaurant establishments to use, to be drawn up
by the Environmental Services Manager of the City of Portland. Richard Grotton of the
Maine Restaurant Association seconded the motion.

 Mr. Koffman suggested the City could make such a list available without
codifying it in an ordinance. Mr. Fisher said the inclusion of a list was as an educational
tool and wasn’t meant to be restrictive. Chairman Suslovic noted that new technology
changes day by day, and that it wasn’t the role of the City to determine what technology
was best. Mr. Rosario said that the larger retail food vendors have the resources to do the
research for themselves, but smaller establishments may not. In that light, having a list of
resources would be very valuable. The vote was taken, and the motion failed 6-8.

 Mr. Fisher moved an amendment stating that if the Maine Legislature votes to ban
polystyrene statewide, Portland’s ordinance would be null and void. He explained that
this would prevent “quilt-patching” and the requirement that packaging companies keep
track of many different laws and ordinances within the state. Shelley Doak of the Maine
Grocers Association seconded the motion. Ms. Brooks asked if he was referencing
federal law, and made an amendment, accepted by Mr. Fisher, to change Massachusetts
to Maine. Chairman Suslovic noted Portland’s stringent smoking ban and asked what
would happen if Portland’s polystyrene ordinance exceeded state requirements. Ms.

 2
Brooks said she thought Portland’s ordinance would stand. Ms. Thompson asked what
would happen if the legislature passed a polystyrene ban, then repealed it some time later.
Mr. Fisher answered that he didn’t want a quilt patch and suggested adding “while a
substantially similar Maine law is in existence, the Portland law is superseded.” The vote
was taken, and the motion passed unanimously.

 Mr. Fisher moved to add an in-store recycling exemption, explaining that if a
store offers recycling options for polystyrene, it should be allowed to sell it. Ms. Doak
seconded the motion.

 Mr. Faulkner asked what the definition of recycling would be. Chairman Suslovic
answered that Portland partly owns ecomaine and can dictate what recycling is. Mr.
Faulkner expressed concern that there were several different recycling practices the city
doesn’t have control over. Mr. Fisher answered that he added this amendment in the
interest of education and personal responsibility. He noted that in-store recycling costs
the store and gives them an incentive to recycle. Chairman Suslovic reiterated that
recycling has to be convenient in order to be effective, as proved by recycling rates. He
said that, in general, customers use polystyrene containers for takeout as opposed to
eating on-premises, and it is unlikely customers will return their containers to the store
they bought them from. Sally Trice of Portland agreed with him and added that
polystyrene containers will still wind up in the trash bag or on the street. Ms. Brooks
agreed that the idea that someone is going to bring it back is not logical. She also noted
that a bin labeled “recycling” does not mean that the contents will in fact be recycled. Mr.
Fisher added an amendment that the in-store recycling program must be approved by the
city in order to be exempted from the ordinance. Mr. Rosario suggested other recyclers
should be allowed with the in-store program, as opposed to limiting establishments to
ecomaine. Chairman Suslovic said if the City finds an effective polystyrene recycling
program, the whole ordinance is moot anyway. Mr. Fisher added that this amendment has
the capacity to create a market for recycling. Ms. Brooks asked if there were examples of
this exemption in any other ordinance. Mr. Fisher answered that he had crafted this one
independently of other ordinances. The vote was taken; the motion failed 5-9 with one
abstention.

 There were no other amendments.

3. Vote on Final Draft Ordinance

 Mr. Fisher asked if there would be an opportunity for a minority report. Chairman
Suslovic said there would be.

 The vote was taken on the full draft ordinance. The motion passed as amended, 9-
6.

 Chairman Suslovic asked that those who had an interest in compiling a minority
report nominate one person to work with Troy Moon of Portland Public Services. Mr.
Fisher said he would, and asked how long the minority committee has to submit the

 3
report. Mr. Moon noted that it would probably be needed by May 31 to be submitted to
the Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee for placement on the earliest
agenda possible. Chairman Suslovic said he hoped the ordinance could be placed on the
TSE agenda for June 19th. Mr. Fisher asked when Ms. Thompson could get the final draft
of the proposed ordinance. Mr. Moon suggested we could distribute the ordinance
language on May 17th. Chairman Suslovic reminded everyone that all dates are tentative.

4. Plastic bags discussion

 Chairman Suslovic introduced the topic of plastic bags and what, if anything, the
task force can do about them. He called on Joshua Dow, a student at Casco Bay High
School, who had prepared a presentation on plastic bags and how to dispose of them. Mr.
Dow proposed a plastic bag return similar to the bottle return program, in which
participants would get a certain amount of change for each plastic bag. In addition to the
environmental benefits, such a system would give citizens in financial difficulties a
method of earning money. Mr. Dow noted that it took one thousand years for a plastic
bag to degrade, and added that plastic bag litter was a monumental worldwide problem.

 Mr. Koffman asked if Mr. Dow had looked into biodegradable bags. Mr. Dow
responded that there were vegetable oil-based plastic bags that were 92% decomposable.
He also mentioned the reusable/recyclable bags that Shaws and Hannaford offered to
their customers. Ms. Brooks asked if he had considered bans as a solution. Mr. Dow said
there had been attempts at bans, but the plastics industry had brought suits against
municipalities that had passed ordinances banning plastic bags. Chairman Suslovic
thanked Mr. Dow for opening his eyes to different ideas like the returnable idea as
opposed to an outright ban.

 Chairman Suslovic asked some questions to get the conversation going. He noted
that any tax a municipality enforces must be passed by the state legislature. He also noted
that the percentage of people who bring their own bags to the grocery has increased to
roughly 50%. Mr. Faulkner noted that any charge would be a fee as opposed to a tax
because it is levied only on people who choose to use plastic bags. He said he had spoken
with Missy Lavie at ecomaine, who told him that plastic bags are collected and sold to a
broker, who will not tell them what’s done with them. Mr. Morin corrected him and said
plastic bags were likely not burned or landfilled because of the cost the brokers paid. Mr.
Faulkner noted that San Diego does not take plastic bags, even though they take
everything else and added that it costs the City of San Francisco $4000/ton to recycle
bags that costs $32/ton on the free market.

 Ms. Brooks asked what happened to bags that are collected by the supermarkets.
Ms. Doak said they were shipped out of state to be recycled. Mr. Rosario said that plastic
bags are a valuable market. He noted that plastic bags were used to manufacture plastic
lumber, as well as other recycled content. He noted that many jobs were created in the
manufacturing of plastic bags as well as in the recycling and reuse of them. He added he
recycles all manner of plastic film when he goes to his local grocery store, not only the
plastic grocery bags. Mr. Grotton asked what the discrepancy was between one person

 4
saying it’s not worth anything, another person saying it’s worth quite a lot. Mr. Morin
replied that it depends on the density and cleanliness of the post-consumer plastic. Ron
Adams of Portland Public Schools noted the school doesn’t use as many plastic bags. He
added that even though there are recycling opportunities, there are still lots of bags
around.

 Ms. Trice asked if there was a definition of “plastic bag” that the task force was
targeting. Chairman Suslovic agreed that was one of the first challenges facing the task
force. He said that the litter issue was significant, and the task force was looking at post-
consumer litter, from appearance to stormwater catch basins.

 Mr. Koffman said he had talked with was talking with Irish TD and businessman
Ruairi Quinn, who initially opposed the plastic bag tax, but eventually got on board and
says it works great as far as reducing litter on land and in the sea. Mr. Koffman suggested
incentives in addition to the ones the grocery stores were using. Chairman Suslovic noted
that the last time he was in Russia he had to pay for a plastic bag at a store, and used that
plastic bag for a month, over and over. Ms. Brooks said she liked the newspaper articles
provided by staff, and said the time was right to impose a fee for plastic grocery bags, as
opposed to Portland Press Herald newspaper delivery bags. Deb Hart of the Retail
Association of Maine asked if Ms. Brooks would define a grocery bag as one you’d get at
a convenience store, and Ms. Brooks said she would. Chairman Suslovic suggested
“retail” bag as a more appropriate term.

 Steve said grocers in Massachusetts have entered into an agreement with the state
Department of Environmental Protection to reduce the use of plastic bags. He also noted
that Ireland’s plastic bag manufacturing industry underwent a drastic downturn after the
ban there was passed. He urged the task force to take into account the economics of the
issue.

 Chairman Suslovic noted that the issue before the task force was litter caused by
plastic bags and its cost to the city. He said he liked the recycling programs that the
grocery stores had implemented, but he was concerned that too many bags escape that
system. Mr. Faulkner noted that plastic grocery bags have handles, as opposed to the
plastic bags one puts meat or veggies in. He suggested that the task force consider a ban
on paper bags as well. He noted that there are many cottage industries creating beautiful
and useful reusable cloth bags that could be composted after one is done.

 Ms. Doak said in 2009 a bag tax bill was introduced to the Maine legislature, and
through the committee process the same memorandum of understanding that
Massachusetts grocers used was adopted. The “Got Your Bags Maine” campaign was
designed to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags by 33%. The coalition was also trying
to collect data from retail stores to measure the reduction of plastic bag use. She said that
the aim of the Maine legislature was to help consumers and the packaging industry
understand the recycling and reuse of bags. She noted that plastic and paper bags are
made in the United States, while many reusable bags are made elsewhere.



 5
 Chairman Suslovic commended the efforts of the retail and grocers committee to
increase their education efforts, but the problem of plastic bag litter has not lessened. Mr.
Rosario said a ban is a simplistic answer to a complex question, and suggested that this is
a personal accountability question. Chairman Suslovic asked for everyone to come to the
next meeting with suggestions for abating the problem.

 Public comment was then taken on the issue.

 Chris O’Neil of the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce asked the task force
to define the problem, its causes and look at many possible solutions. The Chamber asked
that the Portland recycling program be examined as part of the problem, specifically the
issue of open blue bins that allow recycling to become litter. He said the Portland
Chamber of Commerce would consider supporting legislation in Augusta taxing or
banning plastic bags statewide before considering a program that would make Portland an
outlier. He praised Mr. Dow’s idea of bag deposits.

5. Meeting dates

 Chairman Suslovic asked Staff to come up with dates for summer meetings. Mr.
Moon asked the task force for examples of solutions to the problem from other
communities. Chairman Suslovic asked the task force to think about any and all ways to
get plastic bags away from where they don’t belong. Ms. Hart asked if we had done a
citywide program regarding bags. Ms. Doak added that Portland could become the poster
child for consumer bag awareness.

 The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 pm.




 6
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_23092973/our-opinion-plastic-bags-must-go

  Our Opinion: Plastic bags must go
  Berkshire Eagle
  Posted: BerkshireEagle.com

 Given their many environmental drawbacks, plastic bags are on the way out in America. Massachusetts can hasten
 that day by becoming the first state to ban the use of plastic bags at large retail stores.

 Lawmakers on the joint Environmental, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee on Monday advanced
 legislation banning the bags at retail stores larger than 4,000 square feet. Plastic bags are essentially forever, and they
 pack landfills, clutter streets and defile waterways. They are a legitimate danger to coastlines, as washed up plastic
 bags can kill seals, turtles and other marine creatures that consume them or are caught in them.

 Senator James Eldridge, an Acton Democrat, made reference Tuesday to the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a
 floating dump created by manmade products, many of them plastic bags. Not surprisingly, Manchester-by-the-Sea is
 one of two Massachusetts communities to ban plastic bags (Brookline is the other), and Nantucket Island also has
 banned them.

 According to Roxanne Zak of the Sierra Club, speaking to State House News Service, only 5 percent of the more
 than 1 billion plastic bags thrown away by Americans are recycled annually. Removing the resin in plastic bags
 makes it expensive to recycle them, as does the food waste that tends to cling to them. While paper bags are
 preferable, their use should be reduced and can be if shoppers bring their reusable shopping bags with them.

 The legislation exempts small retailers and the bags grocery stores and bakeries use to avoid creating a hardship for
 businesses competing with massive chains, but ideally they will discontinue the use of the bags before it becomes
 necessary at some future date to expand the legislation. Like too many products created for the sake of convenience,
 plastic bags are useful for a few moments before becoming eyesores and threats to marine life for centuries. The
 Legislature should approve their ban this session and Governor Patrick should sign the ban into law.




Page 1 of 1 May 02, 2013 07:29:37AM MDT
Hot air over plastic http://bostonherald.com/print/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2013/04/h...




 Printed from: Boston Herald (http://bostonherald.com)




 Friday, April 26, 2013 -- Anonymous (not verified)

 Editorials
 Saturday, April 27, 2013
 Author(s):
 herald.staff

 There is something delightfully, charmingly trivial about the current effort by
 environmental zealots to ban ... plastic grocery bags.

 Yes, in times of trial and of crisis there’s nothing like those who remain caught up in
 their own little worlds — making the world a safer place one plastic bag at a time.
 Kind of like those precious people of Concord who succeeded in banning single
 serving water bottles.

 Now fresh from successes in Brookline and Manchester-by-the-Sea, the bag
 banners want to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to ban the pesky
 things statewide. And they are kind of pesky — they’re always too small, not strong
 enough (and thus require double-bagging) and so given a choice we’ll take paper
 every time.

 Still, isn’t that a choice consumers can make for themselves? Many stores do offer a
 choice. Many consumers have opted for reusable bags — which nearly all grocery
 stores are now offering for purchase at the check-out.

 Ah, but this is Massachusetts. So why should people or merchants be able to make
 a choice when governmentalways knows best.

 Roxanne Zak of the Sierra Club told a legislative committee this past week, that the
 bags “are creating an environmental crisis for us here and in the whole world, not
 just the United States.”

 Well, not sure how Massachusetts will tackle the “whole world” problem but in the
 Massachusetts Legislature there’s always someone willing to try.

 “I think there is a growing movement across society,” Sen. Marc Pacheco
 (D-Taunton) told State House News Service.




1 of 2 5/2/2013 9:31 AM
Hot air over plastic http://bostonherald.com/print/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2013/04/h...


 Yes, we can see the ban-the-bag troops marching on Beacon Hill, pleading for
 action. Or maybe those who feel strongly about the issue will simply pick up their
 sturdy reusable totes and march off to the grocery content in the knowledge that
 they are walking the walk rather than blowing hot air.


 Source URL: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2013/04
 /hot_air_over_plastic




2 of 2 5/2/2013 9:31 AM
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&e...




 February 2, 2008




 By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

 DUBLIN — There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are taxis and
 buses. There are hip bars and pollution. Every other person is talking into a cellphone. But there are no
 plastic shopping bags, the ubiquitous symbol of urban life.

 In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at
 the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger
 than the sum of these parts.

 Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth
 bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them
 became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.

 “When my roommate brings one in the flat it annoys the hell out of me,” said Edel Egan, a photographer,
 carrying groceries last week in a red backpack.

 Drowning in a sea of plastic bags, countries from China to Australia, cities from San Francisco to New York
 have in the past year adopted a flurry of laws and regulations to address the problem, so far with mixed
 success. The New York City Council, for example, in the face of stiff resistance from business interests,
 passed a measure requiring only that stores that hand out plastic bags take them back for recycling.

 But in the parking lot of a Superquinn Market, Ireland’s largest grocery chain, it is clear that the country is
 well into the post-plastic-bag era. “I used to get half a dozen with every shop. Now I’d never ever buy one,”
 said Cathal McKeown, 40, a civil servant carrying two large black cloth bags bearing the bright green
 Superquinn motto. “If I forgot these, I’d just take the cart of groceries and put them loose in the boot of the
 car, rather than buy a bag.”

 Gerry McCartney, 50, a data processor, has also switched to cloth. “The tax is not so much, but it completely
 changed a very bad habit,” he said. “Now you never see plastic.”

 In January almost 42 billion plastic bags were used worldwide, according to reusablebags.com; the figure
 increases by more than half a million bags every minute. A vast majority are not reused, ending up as waste
 — in landfills or as litter. Because plastic bags are light and compressible, they constitute only 2 percent of
 landfill, but since most are not biodegradable, they will remain there.

 In a few countries, including Germany, grocers have long charged a nominal fee for plastic bags, and cloth
 carrier bags are common. But they are the exception.

 In the past few months, several countries have announced plans to eliminate the bags. Bangladesh and


1 of 3 5/2/2013 9:03 AM
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&e...


 some African nations have sought to ban them because they clog fragile sewerage systems, creating a health
 hazard. Starting this summer, China will prohibit sellers from handing out free plastic shopping bags, but
 the price they should charge is not specified, and there is little capacity for enforcement. Australia says it
 wants to end free plastic bags by the end of the year, but has not decided how.

 Efforts to tax plastic bags have failed in many places because of heated opposition from manufacturers as
 well as from merchants, who have said a tax would be bad for business. In Britain, Los Angeles and San
 Francisco, proposed taxes failed to gain political approval, though San Francisco passed a ban last year.
 Some countries, like Italy, have settled for voluntary participation.

 But there were no plastic bag makers in Ireland (most bags here came from China), and a forceful
 environment minister gave reluctant shopkeepers little wiggle room, making it illegal for them to pay for the
 bags on behalf of customers. The government collects the tax, which finances environmental enforcement
 and cleanup programs.

 Furthermore, the environment minister told shopkeepers that if they changed from plastic to paper, he
 would tax those bags, too.

 While paper bags, which degrade, are in some ways better for the environment, studies suggest that more
 greenhouse gases are released in their manufacture and transportation than in the production of plastic
 bags.

 Today, Ireland’s retailers are great promoters of taxing the bags. “I spent many months arguing against this
 tax with the minister; I thought customers wouldn’t accept it,” said Senator Feargal Quinn, founder of the
 Superquinn chain. “But I have become a big, big enthusiast.”

 Mr. Quinn is also president of EuroCommerce, a group representing six million European retailers. In that
 capacity, he has encouraged a plastic bag tax in other countries. But members are not buying it. “They say:
 ‘Oh, no, no. It wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t be acceptable in our country,’ ” Mr. Quinn said.

 As nations fail to act decisively, some environmentally conscious chains have moved in with their own
 policies. Whole Foods Market announced in January that its stores would no longer offer disposable plastic
 bags, using recycled paper or cloth instead, and many chains are starting to charge customers for plastic
 bags.

 But such ad hoc efforts are unlikely to have the impact of a national tax. Mr. Quinn said that when his
 Superquinn stores tried a decade ago to charge 1 cent for plastic bags, customers rebelled. He found himself
 standing at the cash register buying bags for customers with change from his own pocket to prevent them
 from going elsewhere.

 After five years of the plastic bag tax, Ireland has changed the image of cloth bags, a feat advocates hope to
 achieve in the United States. Vincent Cobb, the president of reusablebags.com, who founded the company
 four years ago to promote the issue, said: “Using cloth bags has been seen as an extreme act of a crazed
 environmentalist. We want it to be seen as something a smart, progressive person would carry.”

 Some things worked to Ireland’s advantage. Almost all markets are part of chains that are highly



2 of 3 5/2/2013 9:03 AM
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&e...


 computerized, with cash registers that already collect a national sales tax, so adding the bag tax involved a
 minimum of reprogramming, and there was little room for evasion.

 The country also has a young, flexible population that has proved to be a good testing ground for
 innovation, from cellphone services to nonsmoking laws. Despite these favorable conditions, Ireland still
 ended up raising the bag tax 50 percent, after officials noted that consumption was rising slightly.

 Ireland has moved on with the tax concept, proposing similar taxes on customers for A.T.M. receipts and
 chewing gum. (The sidewalks of Dublin are dotted with old wads.) The gum tax has been avoided for the
 time being because the chewing gum giant Wrigley agreed to create a public cleanup fund as an alternative.
 This year, the government plans to ban conventional light bulbs, making only low-energy, long-life
 fluorescent bulbs available.


 Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

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3 of 3 5/2/2013 9:03 AM
Legislation to ban plastic bags at stores moves forward - Quincy, MA - T... http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1431014198/Legislators-support...




 Legislation to ban plastic bags at stores moves forward
 By Patriot Ledger staff and State House News Service
 The Patriot Ledger
 Posted Apr 23, 2013 @ 01:48 AM
 Last update Apr 23, 2013 @ 04:40 AM

 BOSTON — Massachusetts could become the first state to ban plastic bags at large retail stores, part of
 Business News
 an effort to protect marine life and reduce waste scattered on streets and stuck in tree branches.
 The Digital Skeptic: Big Business
 Big Data Is in Big Trouble Lawmakers on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee moved the legislation
 forward following a hearing Monday.
 'Investing' in Knicks vs. Heat:
 NBA Eastern Conference Finals “We wanted to make a statement on Earth Day,” said state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, the
 committee’s chairman.
 Home Sales Up, and Prices Set to
 Rise 7.5% The bill would ban single-use plastic bags at stores and restaurants larger than 4,000 square feet. The
 ban would exempt smaller stores and not include plastic produce and bakery bags used in grocery
 Suggested Stories stores.
 Clean Harbors profits decline in
 Pacheco said there has been no economic damage in other communities where the bans have been
 first quarter
 enacted.
 Work continues on assisted-living
 facility in…
 But the state’s largest retail group opposes the ban, saying it is impractical and unfairly singles out
 retailers as a source of litter.
 State awards $342,000 to replace
 Braintree rail… “The bag doesn’t end up on the tree on its own,” said Bill Rennie, vice president of the Retailers
 Association of Massachusetts. “It’s more of a societal problem.”
 From the Web Many stores now offer a choice of paper, plastic or recyclable bags, Rennie said.
 Usher’s 11-Year-Old Stepson Dies
 itsybitsysteps “For retailers, the customer is always right and we like to protect consumer choice,” he said.

 Tim Tebow gets job offer from the Lawmakers cited environmental concerns in supporting the ban.
 Lingerie… Sports Illustrated
 “I’m generally not one that likes to intrude upon the affairs of business, but at this point I think that the
 Pictures: Anna Nicole's Daughter, scales have tipped to the point where something has to be done,” Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth,
 Dannielynn… Zimbio said.

 Sponsore d conte nt What's Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, who sponsored one of the bills given a favorable recommendation,
 this? said 10 percent of the debris that washes up on the shore is plastic bags.

 “Nothing that we use for a few minutes should pollute the oceans for hundreds of years,” Ehrlich said.

 Ehrlich’s bill makes an exception for certain biodegradable plastic bags.

 Hundreds of communities across the country have instituted some type of ban. Mostly recently in Massachusetts, Brookline and
 Manchester-by-the-Sea approved bans. No state has enacted a statewide ban. However, Hawaii does have a de-facto statewide ban,
 with all four counties in the state now banning non-biodegradable plastic bags at checkout.

 Environmentalists said the bags are a danger to the state’s coastlines, and kill sea turtles, whales, seals and other marine wildlife that
 swallow plastic or get strangled by the bags.

 In 2007, major grocery chains in Massachusetts entered an agreement with the state to reduce the total number of paper and plastic
 bags distributed by 33 percent by 2013. The industry met that goal in 2010, said Brian Houghton, vice president of the Boston-based
 Massachusetts Food Association.

 “We just want the program to continue to work and let them give it a chance,” Houghton said. “People still want plastic bags every so
 often if you’re buying something frozen or buying fish or meat.”

 The issue hit close to home for Hedlund when he was participating in the Back River herring run cleanup in Weymouth earlier this
 month. Plastic bags floated down the river and were wedged between rocks.

 “They don’t degrade. They last forever,” Hedlund said. “The environmental impact outweighs all other impacts. We’ll have to go back
 to doing it the way we did before plastic bags proliferated.”

 Patriot Ledger reporters Steve Adams and Dan Schneider and State House News Service contributed to this report.




 Comments (7)
 Thinkingoutloud2
 1 week ago




1 of 3 5/2/2013 9:34 AM
Legislation to ban plastic bags at stores moves forward - Quincy, MA - T... http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1431014198/Legislators-support...


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 We wanted to make a statement on Earth Day, said state Sen. Marc Pacheco

 Yeah, well you're making one alright. We have become a police state. A mamby pamby state that thinks we can BAN and make LAWS about every freaking thing.
 Massachusetts sucks. We've gone over the top into the lunatic liberal stage. What's next? Monitor how much oxygen each and every person is using per day? I
 understand the reasons, but banning everything isn't the answer. Sooner or later, they'll ban something YOU don't want them to. Simply let it be a stores decision.

 Let's rename the state to Bloombergachusetts, the commonwealth of corruption and ridiculous laws. Everyone run out and buy buckle shoes and three point hats
 because they may ban electricity next.
 SuzyYing
 1 week ago
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 Another reason to shop in NH.

 And the stores go back to paper bags which consume millions of trees each year plus the pollution caused by paper production.

 And those bags stuck in trees? They seem to be gone in a few weeks. They don't stay in the trees for ''hundreds of years''.
 chiefbroman
 1 week ago
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 I see more lottery tickets littering the streets then I see plastic bags in trees.

 Would they dare ban lottery tickets?!?!
 DaniZ
 1 week ago
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 . Its more of a societal problem.

 Many stores now offer a choice of paper, plastic or recyclable bags, Rennie (president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts) said.

 I thought the law was they retailers MUST give you that choice. But like the 'Must have a price sticker on each item that was routinely ignored until the law was
 recently changed it hadn't been done in decades.
 And if we forget our reusable bags and resort to ask for paper we get 'oh we don't have any.

 And these bags are made from OIL!!! More dollars going to the countries that supply our terrorists.

 As far as a societal problem. Sure blame the other girl. It's them not us. We only want to save corporate dollars.
 bottomtooth
 1 week ago
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2 of 3 5/2/2013 9:34 AM
Legislation to ban plastic bags at stores moves forward - Quincy, MA - T... http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1431014198/Legislators-support...




 How about the people that recycle their plastic bags into their homes for other uses.

 So I'll now go out and buy more trash bags.
 biff
 1 week ago
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 Maybe we should enforce the littering laws and increase the fines. The cities and towns could ticket for all littering such as cigarette butts, food wraps and even gum.
 The police seem to like to sit in one place with radar so now they can target litters as well.
 I happen to like the plastic bags as they are much more convenient than paper or the canvas bags.
 jw20000
 1 week ago
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 When I hear the Bag Ban lobby comments about bags that last 1,000's of years, Litter the countryside, and pollute the oceans, I am reminded of the typical TV
 courtroom drama. 'Objection, those facts are not in evidence.' All scientific Environmental Impact Statements report that 6 gram plastic grocery bags have the lowest
 impact to the environment. The latest is from the UK Environment Agency. It is titled 'Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags'. Check it out. at
 environment-agency.gov.uk. IT was blocked from release to the pubic for years by Bag Banners who disagreed with the science that did not support their emotional
 feelings. Paper bags are the worst, even recycled bags contribute to green house gas emissions and deforestation. Reusable bags are made of PLASTIC fiber textiles. If
 you reuse the typical 'free' plastic grocery bag for household trash, or lunch bags, doggy bags, diaper bags, compost, etc, then you would need to use a Reusable bag
 over 300 cycles to break even on Environmental Impact. They don't last that long. They require near slave labor to produce including Child labor according to
 reporters that visit the 'factories'. Should we as a society contribute to crimes against humanity to feel good about our grocery bags? Bags that are largely made from
 WASTE natural gas, not oil as reported by Greenwashing advocates. PS. Bag Producers LOVE bag bans. They sell bags by the lb. When 6 gram bags are banned, a few
 months later, householders run out of their personal stash of bags under the Kitchen counter and have to purchase expensive 18 gram trash bags in cardboard boxes to
 replace them. Sales increase dramatically like they did in Ireland after their bag ban. Landfill Plastic tonnage increases as well. More Environmental Impact. The Law
 of Unintended Consequences.
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3 of 3 5/2/2013 9:34 AM
Viewpoints: Should plastic bags be banned in California? No - Viewpoint... http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/21/v-print/5356968/should-plastic-bags...




 html




 Prohibition is a solution in search of a problem
 Special to The Bee

 Published Sunday, Apr. 21, 2013




 Growing up in the shadow of the '60s, a remarkable event occurred in my otherwise unremarkable
 hometown of Modesto – a little group called Ecology Action created the nation's first-ever curbside
 recycling program.

 National coverage in Look magazine stoked town pride. The year was 1971, and I was 11 years old.
 I remember the excitement helping mom drag recyclables to the curb and watching primitive trucks
 pull into the cul-de-sac to haul everything away.

 The experience left an indelible mark on me, as did coming of age with Earth Day. I've carried this
 environmental sensibility into adulthood. It's influenced how our household operates and how I raise
 my children. We often ride bikes to the store, try to remember reusable bags and buy from local
 farmers. Our recycling bin overflows.

 So why would a lifelong common-sense environmentalist oppose a plastic bag ban? It starts with an
 open mind. A few years ago when I was hired for a team opposing a proposed statewide ban, I
 wondered: "How can you defend a plastic bag?" As a Sacramento resident, homeowner, dog owner
 and avid recycler, I say the answer is easy if you challenge preconceived notions with facts and
 critical thinking.

 • This is a solution in search of a problem. Statewide and locally, the approach is the same: parrot
 other ban proposals as if they are gospel; cite a big number (amount of bags used); mention a few
 emotionally charged anecdotes (a dead sea turtle); and make sweeping, unsubstantiated
 statements (plastic is killing our oceans). But where is the hard data showing significant harm and
 that a ban prevents it? A 2008 San Francisco litter study actually showed a slight uptick of plastic
 bag litter after a ban the previous year. Even so, that city's data showed plastic bags contributed
 just 0.64 percent of all large litter. Plastic bags make up less than 0.5 percent of all solid waste.

 • Calling plastic bags "single use" is disingenuous. Ask any pet owner or parent. If "single use" is
 the measuring stick, why not ban all bags, diapers, batteries, toilet paper and Starbucks plastic-
 coated paper coffee cups, which can't be recycled and take years to decompose?

 • Plastic bags are byproducts of natural gas – not oil. Bashing Big Oil is always in fashion for some,
 but they cross into a fantasy land when they link plastic bags to dependence on foreign oil and
 global warming to justify a ban. There is no connection.

 • Recycling hasn't been given a chance. The lack of public education about proper recycling is
 shameful. State law mandates that grocery stores offer collection; the city's recycling bins welcome
 them if they're bundled properly. It's insulting that residents aren't given the opportunity to do the


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 right thing over time.

 • Choice. Like a lot of controversial issues, how people shop is an intensely personal decision. If you
 don't like plastic bags, don't use them. But stay away from my choice. This is a classic case of
 government overreach and intrusion.

 • Cost. Aside from the cost to consumers, implementing bans costs government. In the case of
 Sacramento, the city's staff report estimates a ban may cost up to $470,000 with no revenue
 source identified for this program. If bags clog the city's machinery, invest in better machinery and
 education. Consumers will still buy bags and receive them from all the retailers exempt from a ban.

 • A ban hurts people without a voice. The homeless pushing shopping carts. Seniors in wheelchairs.
 Welfare moms with strollers. Public transit riders. Who's going to help these folks when their paper
 bags disintegrate?

 • Unintended consequences. Because paper bags take up so much more space than plastic, more
 delivery truckloads are required. Plastic requires 80 percent less energy to make than paper.
 Translation: more traffic, emissions and energy use. And what about dog and cat lovers? They'll
 either buy bags or leave their pet waste where it lands.

 • Profit. The state proposal, as well as the Sacramento concept, allows stores to charge customers
 up to a dime per paper bag. This may not be a lot of money to some, but what about those living on
 the edge? Grocers appear complicit because they'll profit – by one estimate close to a billion dollars
 annually statewide.

 • Big Brother. What's next? Bring your own mug to Peet's? Ban toxic household batteries because
 recycling options are practically nonexistent? (California mandates they be recycled.) Shut down
 restaurants that don't offer vegan options? Or how about mandating gun ownership like Kennesaw,
 Ga. – after all, its crime rate is below the national average? Of course not. The precedent of
 micromanaging the citizenry is ominous and undermines a live-and-let-live free society.

 Simplistic feel-good policies distract from the fact our elected officials are failing to solve complex
 real problems most people care about. They grab headlines and provide steppingstones for higher
 office. But benefiting residents and the environment? Hardly.

 Most disturbing to me, the ban movement reflects a divisive black-and-white world pitting
 emotional zeal against sober common sense. What a far cry from the thoughtful, constructive and
 energizing approach I saw unify a community back in 1971.

 Stevan Allen is a writer who lives in east Sacramento. He is president of AllenStrategic, a public
 affairs agency.

 © Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

 • Read more articles by Stevan Allen

 Order Reprint




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A staple under siege: Plastic bag manufacturers battle taxes and bans - T... http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-staple-under-siege-plastic-bag-...




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 By Michael S. Rosenwald, Published: April 12

 This is where your Wal-Mart bag’s life begins: in Elkridge, not far from Baltimore-Washington International
 Marshall Airport, at a hulking factory the size of three football fields. Millions of bags with blue Wal-mart
 logos or red Target bull’s-eyes spin through Advance Polybag’s plant. The operation runs nonstop, every day,
 even Christmas.

 For the factory’s owners and its 140 employees, producing a useful staple of everyday life represents one
 version of the American dream. But to environmentalists and some politicians, the millions of bags produced
 by the plant every day are a plague upon the Earth, fouling rivers, oceans and forests.

 Plastic bags have been banned in some parts of the country and taxed in others, including the District and
 Montgomery County. Just last month, Maryland lawmakers considered imposing the country’s first statewide
 bag tax, of 5 cents. The legislation didn’t make it to the floor of the House of Delegates, but proponents
 promise to push the measure again next year.

 “This is coming, one way or another,” said Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), chairman of the powerful
 House Economic Matters Committee, where a watered-down version of the bill died after passing in the
 environmental committee. “The whole idea of free bags is going by the wayside. It’s not a matter of if, but
 when.”

 Such tough talk has the plastic bag industry girded for a long battle against taxes and bans — not just in
 Maryland but around the country, where dozens of measures are under consideration. The industry’s fear,
 experts say, is that even though plastic bags account for only $9.8 billion of the $374 billion plastics business,
 targeting bags could be a starting point for increased regulatory scrutiny against other plastic products,
 including bottles.

 Along with industry trade groups, executives from Advance Polybag and Hilex Poly, another top bag maker,
 are on the offensive, hiring public relations firms and lobbyists, writing op-eds, backing social media
 campaigns with titles such as BagTheBan. They complain their views aren’t given a fair hearing by
 lawmakers and regulators, who often leave their testimony to the very end of hearings.

 “Give us a fair debate,” said Bill Ebeck, Advance Polybag’s director of sales, in an interview at the Elkridge
 plant attended by a representative from Edelman, the New York public relations firm that also represents
 Wal-Mart. “We can present the truths from the facts, as opposed to the opinions.”

 Ebeck recently published an op-ed calling plastic bags “scapegoats,” declaring bags aren’t a major



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 environmental problem and noting that “for the hardest hit families, every nickel counts.”

 Once a wonder

 Plastic bags weren’t always an object of derision. They were patented in 1962 by a Swedish engineer named
 Sten Thulin, who “devised an ingenious system of folds and welds that made it possible to transform a flimsy
 tube of polyethylene film into a strong, sturdy bag,” journalist Susan Freinkel wrote in her 2011 book,
 “Plastic: A Toxic Love Story.”

 Back then, the bag was viewed with something like wonder.

 “Today the bag is so maligned that we forget what an engineering marvel it is: a waterproof, durable,
 featherweight packet capable of holding more than a thousand times its weight,” Freinkel wrote.

 But it wasn’t an immediate hit. Shoppers “didn’t like the way a checkout clerk often licked his fingers to pull
 a plastic bag free from the rack, or the fact that the bags wouldn’t stand up,” Freinkel wrote.

 After companies showed consumers that a flat-bottom bag wasn’t always needed, plastic bags caught on.
 Today companies such as Advance Polybag, which is based near Houston, produce millions a day in factories
 around the United States. By some estimates, consumers use more than a trillion plastic bags around the
 world every year. Advance Polybag generates about $260 million a year in sales, according to Plastics News.

 The problem, according to environmentalists, is that the bags are so light and so bountiful that they frequently
 fly away from custody, clogging streams and waterways, getting stuck in trees, polluting oceans. That’s one
 side of the argument, which is pushed not just by environmentalists but also the paper bag industry. In some
 anti-bag legislation, paper bags have been included with plastics, making paper bag manufacturers angry and
 defensive.

 “The paper bag has been unfairly lumped into the single-use bag category,” said Christopher Klein,
 environmental manager for Kentucky-based Duro Bag, the country’s largest paper bag maker, whose
 customers include Macy’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. “Paper bags are much more sustainable and are the better
 option for the environment.”

 The plastic industry, not surprisingly, disagrees. Its side of the argument goes like this: Plastic bags are
 recyclable, bags are often used more than once, they generate less waste than paper, regulatory action
 increases costs for lower-income consumers, environmental pollution is exaggerated by plastic bag-haters,
 and reusable bags are made in China, and lastly, they often become a breeding ground for germs.

 The facts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: “In 2010, the category of plastics which
 includes bags, sacks, and wraps was recycled at almost 12 percent” and plastic bags, sacks and wraps
 comprise less than 1 percent of the municipal solid waste stream. Plastic bags represented more than 20
 percent of trash in the Anacostia River, according to a 2008 study prepared by the Anacostia Watershed
 Society, a nonprofit environmental group.

 SPI, the plastics industry trade group, helps executives push their arguments to politicians around the country
 through the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a collection of top bag producers. The industry is also active
 on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “I care about the amount of plastic litter in our environment,” an online
 petition says, “but I don’t think banning or taxing plastic grocery bags would be the right decision for my
 community.”



2 of 4 5/2/2013 8:45 AM
On BagTheBan’s Facebook page the other day, a post said, “Do you know what’s lurking inside of your
reusable bags? SHARE to inform your friends of what may be lurking in their bags as well!” The post linked
to a BagTheBan video on YouTube with gloomy music playing in the background as a narrator details studies
showing that reusable grocery bags collect dangerous bacteria such as E.coli.

That research has been questioned by environmentalists: “There was no evidence that reusable bags contain
anything close to dangerous levels of bacteria, or that the E.coli strains found were in fact dangerous,” the
group Californians Against Waste wrote about a prominent study.

A source of jobs

The industry has one other argument: jobs. SPI says 30,000 people work in the plastic bag industry. About
150 of them work at Advance Polybag’s Elkridge plant. Though the industry makes the jobs argument often,
including recently in Annapolis to the House Economic Matters committee, the chairman of the committee
said the industry’s financial defense didn’t carry much weight.

“I think it’s par for the course,” said Davis, who voted in favor of the tax legislation. “Anytime we do this
sort of thing, the industry trade associations will paint a gloom and doom picture.” Of bag executives and the
trade groups, Davis said, “I don’t think they had an influence at all.” Rather, he thinks the committee was
concerned about adding another tax this session after passing other revenue measures, including a gas tax
increase.

One place the jobs message has resonated: inside Advance Polybag’s plants. The company’s employees,
many of them refugees from Burma’s military dictatorship, say they have been worried — not just about
losing precious overtime or even their jobs, but about paying a tax on their cash-tight trips to the grocery or
drug store.

“It’s going to be difficult for my family,” predicted Se Thlie, a 28-year-old Burmese refugee, speaking
through an interpreter. “It’s going to be less hours, or I might lose my job.”

Thlie works as a quality control worker at the behemoth facility not far from I-95. Her days are long and
noisy. A plastic bag might eventually float quietly away in the wind, landing who knows where, but a bag’s
birth — as tiny polyethylene pellets melted and then stretched in one of more than two dozen hulking
extruders — is so loud that workers stick plugs in their ears.

Ebeck said Advance Polybag would rather spend money on expanding operations than battling legislators.

“When you are under attack, you spend money fighting legislation and we could be creating jobs,” he said.
Asked whether a 5-cent statewide tax could affect employment levels, Ebeck replied, “When you keep
attacking an industry, sooner or later it’s gonna affect employment.”

Would the firm move the plant? “I couldn’t answer that,” he said.

Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery ), a co-sponsor of the bag tax legislation, said bag producers should
diversify their products to get along in a world he sees moving away from plastic bags. “Nobody is out to
 May 6, 2013
Dear Mary,

As chairman of the American Progressive Bag Alliance (APBA) and employee of Hilex Poly, I have been
following the discussion taking place in Portland to potentially ban plastic grocery bags. As Portland’s
Sustainability Task Force continues to explore options for educating residents on plastic bag reduction, I
wanted to share with you the data that we’ve collected on plastic bag recycling and the positive
implications it can have on our communities, the economy and the environment.

Our industry agrees that litter, in general, is a problem but implementing a bag ban would not address
the issue of litter in a meaningful way. A recent statement distributed by Environmental Resources
Planning, a professional firm that conducts scientifically-based litter studies, noted that when litter
studies are conducted by professionally trained staff rather than volunteers, plastic bag litter ranges
between 0.5 percent and 2 percent of total litter collected.

APBA is an organization of plastic bag manufacturers, members of which work to make a positive change
in our communities by promoting increased recycling of plastic bags, as well as their proper use, reuse,
recovery and disposal. That’s why our members are taking a responsible approach and working with
retailers across the nation to offer bins for residents to deposit their plastic bag and wraps for recycling.
In fact, Hilex Poly was able to recycle more than 35 million pounds of post-consumer plastic last year
through its retailer collection program, which eliminated millions of bags from going to landfills.

Recycling continues to be a growing trend in communities across the nation, and plastic bag recycling
programs in particular are a proven success. According to the U.S. EPA’s 2010 municipal solid waste
study, the recycling rate of polyethylene bags, sacks and wraps was 14.7 percent, a 23.8 percent
increase from the rate in 2009, and has grown in nine out of the last 10 years. Overall, three million tons
of polyethylene bags, sacks and wraps were recycled in 2010. Lastly, surveys show that 90 percent of
people reuse 40-60 percent of their bags for bin liners, pet waste, storage or other uses.

Actions taken by cities and states across the country demonstrate the desire for comprehensive
recycling programs. Just last year, city officials in Southampton Town, NY and Corpus Christi, TX decided
to adopt an expanded plastic bag recycling program in lieu of a plastic bag ban. These community
recycling programs support more than 1 million men and women who are part of the recycling industry.
Our industry alone supports more than 30,800 American jobs, including more than 100 in Maine.

In addition to the economic benefits, recycling serves as the best solution to some of the environmental
issues we are facing as a nation. Plastic bag recycling reduces the need to harvest virgin materials for
new plastic bag development, and provides a sustainable solution that keeps additional waste from
going to the landfills. Plastic grocery bags require 40 percent less energy and four percent less water to
manufacture than paper bags. I’ve attached a fact sheet on the benefits of plastic bag recycling and the
impacts of anti-bag legislation – I encourage you to review the information as you consider anti-plastic
bag legislation.

We support customer choice at checkout – paper, plastic or reusable. But we think it’s critical that
residents are armed with the facts in order to make a decision that’s best for them, and best for their
families. I hope this information was helpful in describing why recycling is a better option and bag
legislation is simply put, bad public policy.
I ask that you please consider the alternatives to anti-bag laws in order to preserve consumer choice,
jobs and our industry. I appreciate the time you have taken to read this note. I hope it was helpful and
that you can use these facts in your public education campaign. Please feel free to use me as a resource
or reach out to me at any point to discuss plastic bag recycling options.

Sincerely,

Mark T. Daniels
Mark Daniels
Chair, American Progressive Bag Alliance
SVP Sustainability & Environmental Policy, Hilex Poly Co. LLC


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