Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Ordinance To Impose A Fee On Plastic Grocery Bags In Aspen

By Matt Lewison


Plastic bags have become one of the primary environmental issues nowadays. They create environmental destruction in many different ways. Critical natural resources are used for the manufacture of plastic bags. The bags are used one time for a small amount of time and placed right into the trash can. Plastic waste disposal is a challenge that is lacking an appropriate solution. Indeed being non-biodegradable, most of these plastic bags continue damaging land and oceans for many centuries. They increase the risk for death of a number of marine birds and animals, add to landfill waste and create rubbish. Various countries have made attempts to cut back the usage of plastic bags. Quite a few towns and cities in the country are coming up with laws prohibiting plastic bag usage.

Ordinance to Impose a Fee on Plastic Grocery Bags in Aspen

In accordance with an interesting report in Post Independent, an ordinance to charge grocery store consumers a fee of 20 cents for offering either plastic and even paper bags was introduced in Aspen. At the 1st reading, the regulation was given almost total support from the council members with a 4-1 vote. However the majority of members still have lots of unanswered questions and require additional information. Many questions include the 20 cent number and the factors behind choosing this amount.

Questions Surrounding the Proposal

Council member Adam Filch is a advocate of the eco friendly movement. He also handed out complimentary recycled grocery bags to voters while running for council seat in spring. However in the initial reading, he was the only one to vote against the ordinance. While the reasons for this weren't clarified, previously Filch expressed concern about the helpfulness of a twenty cent fee in reducing the use of plastic bags. He additionally stated a desire to know how the figure was reached and whether or not it represents the cost of recovering a thrown-away plastic bag.

Although some members believe that the fee is too modest to discourage the usage of plastic bags, other members like Steve Skadron think that a 20 cent charge might be too aggressive. As indicated by him, a ten cent or just a five cent charge needs to be considered. Apart from the customers, the ordinance will also impact grocery stores. Imposing a fee for a grocery bag can be a burden for the stores. Based on the current proposition, 5% of the fee will go to the stores as a compensation for the additional costs. But council member Derek Johnson opines that this may perhaps be too little. Five percent of the charge means somewhere around $100 per month, which is incredibly low because the supermarkets might need to invest in electronic register reprogramming and also employee training. They might also encounter productivity decline. According to Johnson, the situation should really be talked over with the grocers.

Grocers could use reusable custom bags to promote both their company along with the green cause. The main purpose of this approach is to decrease the usage of plastic bags. But in case the fee is unproductive in motivating customers to give up plastic or paper bags in favor of reusable shopping bags, it could earn the city about $1 million within a year.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment