Big Apple Makes Small, Flimsy Statement

In October, New York City proposed a ban on all plastic bags that would have made it a leader in environmental legislation. But a recent change of direction is far less satisfying.

Instead of forcing people to use less plastic and more reusable bags, the city will merely ask them to recycle – and I have serious doubts as to the efficacy of this decision.

The Department of Sanitation, which picks up the rest of the city's recyclables, will not be hired to collect the bags. Instead, any stores of 5,000 square feet or larger and branches of chains with more than five locations in the city that distribute plastic bags to customers will be required to collect and recycle them. However, the stores will have to individually contract to have the bags removed and recycled. The problem with this freedom is the lack of certification and verification that the contracted companies will actually recycle the bags. Many bags collected for recycling are actually shipped to countries like India and China where they are cheaply incinerated, and recycling them is time-consuming and expensive anyways. This does nothing to deter people from using them in the first place, thereby contributing to the consumption of about 12 million barrels of oil.

This new law also bypasses paper bags and stiff plastic shopping bags with cardboard bottoms, so does this create a loophole for stores that don't want to recycle if they choose to distribute those types of bags instead of the flimsy grocery-type bags?

The legislation passed 44 to 2 and will take effect six months after Mayor Bloomberg signs it. While this is being touted as a sweeping environmental effort by such a large city, I am disappointed in the city's lack of guts. Why not go big and really make a statement and actually do something to reduce the problem?