Bag recycling is state law

Insisting that “even during difficult times we must be protective stewards of our environment,” Governor David Paterson has signed the Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Act into law.
Starting January 1, stores over 10,000 square feet or chains with more than five stores, each over 5,000 square feet, will have to provide bins for the collection of used plastic carryout bags, recycle the returned bags and keep records for three years describing the amount of plastic bags collected and recycled.
The bill’s sponsor and chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, Assemblymember Robert K. Sweeney called it “The strongest state plastic bag recycle law in the country,” saying, “New York consumers and environmentalists can be proud.”
Despite appeals from city officials however, the law makes the state the sole enforcer of bag recycling, thus invalidating an even stronger law passed by the City Council in January.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had expressed dismay that the bill ignored the city’s even-more-stringent bag recycling rule, passed in early January.
“State legislation often exempts New York City from particular requirements due to the unique and diverse needs of a city of nine million residents,” Quinn said in the days before the signing, and called upon Paterson “in good conscience” to veto the bill.
However, with Paterson’s announcement that an agreement had been reached with the Legislature allowing the city to retain its recycling program for plastic carryout bags and film plastics, Quinn joined the chorus of praise.
“This updated legislation gives New Yorkers the best of both worlds. It creates a program that will bring responsible recycling to communities throughout the state, while allowing the city to go further in our own efforts to prevent bags from polluting our streets and waterways or clogging our landfills,” she said.
Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who sponsored the city plan, also seemed satisfied.
Having first accused state legislators of “not just recycling our ideas, but also throwing our authority into the landfill,” Vallone thanked “Albany for allowing New York City to enforce its own cutting edge recycling law, which will keep our city on the forefront of environmental stewardship.”
The promised additional legislation will also require the recycling of film plastics as part of the statewide program. The governor urged lawmakers to move swiftly to pass the amendments.
Stores are prohibited from land filling plastic and must use bags with a printed recycling message. After a waiting period, compostable plastic bags must also be marked as such, so they don’t contaminate recyclables.
The plastic used in most shopping bags, dry-cleaning bags and outer wrapping for paper goods is polyethylene - a particularly recyclable plastic made from ethane, a natural gas.
Despite early opposition, bag recycling plans have garnered support from both merchant and industry groups opposed to outright bans or bag taxes, which they claim are counter-productive and hurt consumers.
According to industry figures, despite a shopping bag ban in Ireland, for example, consumer plastic usage there has actually increased by 10 percent.
They also point out that paper takes more energy, water and harsh chemicals to recycle, and takes up more room in landfills - where it generates methane gas, which has more than twenty times the greenhouse effect of CO2.
From a practical standpoint, industry sources say, the secret to environmentally successful plastic recycling is consistency of laws and public awareness.
“This is a significant victory for New York’s citizens and the environment,” said Sharon Kneiss, a Vice President with the American Chemistry Council. “The new law creates one consistent standard statewide that all municipalities can follow, while allowing existing programs to continue uninterrupted.”
“The two states with the largest populations on each coast now have statewide plastic bag recycling programs,” Kneiss continued, referring to similar legislation in California. “Lawmakers recognize that plastics are a valuable material that should be recycled,” she said.
The latest available statistics (for 2006) show that the recycling of plastic bags and wraps increased 24 percent nationwide. Kneiss expects a significant increase in the amount of plastic diverted from landfills to recycling.
The public can do its part to increase the environmental benefit of the bag recycling law, experts suggest.
Don’t contaminate the bag recycling stream they say, with dirty bags, bags with paper or other inserts, or other items, like food containers, drink cups or lids, which are made from different plastics entirely.
These moves both reduce the amount of water, energy and labor needed for recycling, and increases the amount of recovered polyethylene - leaving less to be incinerated or dumped out-of-state.