FAQ
I reuse plastic bags as trashcan liners, to pick up dog poop, and other purposes. Will this ban mean I won’t have any more bags?
No. A ban on plastic bags means that large grocers and pharmacies cannot distribute plastic bags, but those stores will distribute paper bags, compostable bags, and reusable bags. Compostable bags look and function just like plastic bags, but they are less harmful to our environment, easier to dispose of and better for consumers and taxpayers.
Would a ban on plastic bags just mean that I’ll have to use paper bags?
No. If you forget your reusable bag, and are making a small purchase, carry the purchase home. If you need a bag, ask for compostable. If your only options are paper or plastic, choose paper.
If stores carry both paper and compostable plastic, then paper use will increase only if more customers ask for paper than they do now. In the early days of the ordinance, it is possible that grocery stores might encourage the use of paper bags, but as the compostable plastic bag market and production continues to expand worldwide the unit price will continue to drop well below that of paper and stores will certainly switch to using more compostable plastic. If customers are encouraged to bring re-usable bags, that would further reduce the number of paper AND compostable bags being used.
Is paper really better than plastic, won’t we be cutting down more tress?
Paper grocery bags are customarily made from recycled paper, and contain anywhere from 40-90 percent post-consumer material. Wisely, the plastic bag ban ordinance requires paper bags to contain recycled content. Requiring grocery stores to use recycled content paper bags will increase domestic production of post-consumer paper bags. That benefits everyone because in addition to reusing natural resources, it reduces the greenhouse gas emissions generated by shipping the product overseas.
Will the compostable plastic bags cost more than paper bags?
Some compostable plastic bags are currently more expensive than paper bags and other compostable bags are projected to be less expensive at grocery store volumes. As demand for compostable plastics increase, industry experts believe that the unit cost for a bio-plastic bag will be less expensive than a paper bag and increasingly competitive with plastic bags.
Will there be enough compostable plastic bags to meet demand?
The current and predicted production capacity of compostable plastic bag manufacturers can meet demand. Visit www.BioBagsUSA.com for an example of a compostable bag manufacturer.
Will the compostable plastic bags be GMO-free?
Some compostable plastic bags are made from GMO free sources and other include cornstarch whose source will likely contain some percentage of GMO corn, but neither has any GMO material in the bag product. The goal of the ordinance is to give preference to non-GMO and ultimately to minimize or phase out GMOs based content as available technology allows.
Would this ban cost us money or increase costs for consumers?
No. Banning plastic bags and using compostable bags and reusable bags saves money.
We need to use reusable bags, not disposable bags. Plastic bags cost less than paper bags or compostable bags. But plastic bags also cost more to dispose of in landfills and to pick up as litter. The City of San Francisco estimates that each plastic bag costs tax payers 17 cents to pick up and dispose of. That means you’re already paying a hidden tax for the convenience of plastic bags.
Requiring grocers and pharmacies to distribute paper and compostable bags instead of plastic bags means fewer bags going into landfills and less litter being picked out of trees, creeks, and parks.
Why do plastic bags cost so much to dispose of?
Plastic bags are gigantic problem at a MRF (Material Recovery Facility). The plastic bags get caught in the sorting plates of the machinery and every night several workers have to cut out the bags. Taxpayers pay for that cost.
Additionally, those plastic bags clogging the machine mean that the final product emerging from the MRF has higher contamination levels and is thus of a lower quality. The market pays less for lower quality product and more for higher quality product.
Right now the high cost of picking up and disposing of plastic bags is about 17 times the store cost of distributing them. Taxpayers are footing that bill.
And as Austin is presently designing a new MRF that will come on line at the end of 2008, it’s more important now than ever that we address the problems posed by plastic bags.
Wouldn’t compostable bags get caught up in the MRF machinery as well?
Only if consumers dispose of compostable bags incorrectly would they corrupt the MRF recycle stream. Compostables need to be treated differently than recyclables, and Austin must develop a more sophisticated composting stream.
That’s why we need to acknowledge that compostable bags are not a long-term solution. We fully support distributing 500,000 free reusable bags to Austinites, paid for by private dollars, so that we can get past disposable bags entirely.
Buying reusable bags costs money; does this hurt our most vulnerable?
No. In addition to supporting a ban on the distribution of plastic bags by large retailers, we strongly support a broad public education campaign with the free distribution of hundreds of thousands of reusable bags.
Any Austinite that wishes to shop with reusable bags ought to have as many free bags as they need. We look forward to working with the Austin City Council to make sure no person is hurt by this ban.
Would the ban go into effect immediately?
No. That wouldn’t be fair to businesses or citizens. In conjunction with a public education campaign, a ban ought to go into effect six to twelve months after passage. That gives businesses and Austinites time to prepare.