The Vermont Senate gave preliminary approval Friday to legislation that would ban the distribution of single-use plastic bags, foam containers and plastic straws, with some exceptions.
The 27-3 vote followed a short debate that largely focused on a 10-cent fee on single-use paper bags included in the bill. Some senators voiced concern that the fee would be a hardship for low-income Vermonters.
Mostly, though, senators spoke in support of the bill, S.113, which would also establish a study committee to examine the effects of plastic on Vermont’s waste stream and other policies that might help reduce plastic waste.
Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison), the bill’s lead sponsor, said Vermont needs to address plastic waste “without being the street sweeper following the parade — always cleaning up.”
In order to encourage Vermonters to bring reusable bags to the store, the legislation also proposes to require retailers to charge customers at least 10 cents for each paper bag distributed.
Sen. Michael Sirotkin (D-Chittenden), a cosponsor of the original legislation, said he had concerns about the 10-cent fee, which was added in committee.
“The public may view this as a tax and be quite surprised at … having to pay a dime each,” Sirotkin said. “I know they have a choice for cloth, but I think it’s going to come as sticker shock.”
Bray said similar policies have proven to work in other areas that have already implemented such fees.
“Fundamental to the design” of the bill, Bray said, “is having people move to reusable bags.”
Without giving people an incentive to stay away from paper, Bray said, the bill wouldn’t accomplish that goal as easily.
“In jurisdictions where those bags were provided at no cost, many people just switched to paper, and they changed the nature of the problem, but now they have more paper waste to deal with,” Bray said.
The legislation allows restaurants to distribute straws to customers who request them, and it does not ban the retail sale of straws. There’s also an exception for foam used in packaging, such as grocery store meat trays or egg cartons. Other foam containers, such as take-out trays or insulated, to-go coffee cups, would be banned by the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint (D-Windham) lives in Brattleboro, where single-use plastic bags were banned in July 2018. She said concerns about the rollout of a statewide policy are overblown.
“It was not a big deal at all,” Balint said of the Brattleboro policy.
“We are choking on plastic,” she added. “This is a modest step forward and I think we can get this done.”
Gov. Phil Scott has signaled that he’s open to a plastic bag ban.
“I’m not opposed to that,” Scott said at a Thursday press conference at the Statehouse. “I don’t understand the 10-cent increase in other bags.”
Scott said retailers he speaks to are “not as much opposed as they once were” to the idea.
During Friday’s Senate debate, Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) shared a personal anecdote about the plastic problem. He said his 14-year-old daughter became concerned about plastic waste before he did, so she began collecting plastic straws the family was given at restaurants in order to save them from the trash.
After a few months of this, Baruth said, he went to clean out his car.
“There were hundreds of straws that neither she nor I knew how to properly dispose of,” he said as senators laughed.
Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex/Orleans) quipped that if Baruth found 100 straws in his car, “he goes out to eat much more often than I do.”
Starr voiced concern about banning products before the study committee had a chance to analyze plastic waste in Vermont, and he was audibly conflicted about his vote. Ultimately, Starr gave a hesitant “yeah” — as if he was still thinking about it when his name was called during a roll-call vote — instead of the quick, customary “yes” or “no.”
In Friday’s vote, only three members — Sens. Brian Collamore (R-Rutland), James McNeil (R-Rutland) and Corey Parent (R-Franklin) — voted against the legislation.
The proposal faces a final procedural vote in the Senate next week before it goes to the House for further consideration.
John Walters contributed reporting.
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Beware the plastic bag police! Imaging the job description the state will put out for the new regulators! They will have to police tens of thousands of stores in Vermont. Somebody will have to account for all the monies to be collected. Store owners will now spend at least one morning a week accounting for all those bags and filing the reports with Montpelier. The scofflaws who will ignore the new law will have to be fined and perhaps sent to jail. Court costs and regulators galore! Those who pick up dog poop and kitty litter in their single use plastic bags will now have to hide behind trees and look out for the doo gooders. Hospitals will have to hide the refuse bags. Where? When will this madness stop? I know plenty of folks who will be plenty annoyed at this silly legislation and petty regulation of our lives. Beware the coming toilet paper legislation which will limit you to three squares!
The phrase is REDUCE, reuse, recycle people. Humans have officially started using recycling as an excuse to be lazy and not cognizant, active members/helpers of society. We have reached our worlds limit in terms of ability to recycle plastic items. Quickly we are losing the space to store all of it before it can be recycled. We are using plastic at way too quick of a rate. It really is not that hard to change your daily habits away from using as much plastic if you just put a little bit of effort in.
Every time I go to the dump (transfer station now) I take my trash in a large green single use bag with drawstrings. What will I have to use now that these single use bags are outlawed?
Timothy: Good start, but given the new law, will you switch to cloth?
Kaleb: I’m not sure whether most “single-use” plastic bags are made from new or recycled material, but I think that’s beside the point, which is simply to reduce demand for plastic wherever and whenever possible. If bags are recycled into things like roadway material and building products, the plastic is still circulating in the environment, and still deteriorating slowly and leaving its tatters and scraps flaking off and accumulating in the soil and oceans year after year. The term often used for this kind of reuse is actually not “recycling”, but “downcycling”, which is more of a greenwash than a truly environmentally-friendly practice. Plastics generally do not deteriorate or “biodegrade” past the molecular level. You think diamonds are forever? Think plastic.
Donna: Most items sold in “convenience” stores are things like coffee, soda, junk food, alcohol, and tobacco. These are bought mostly for immediate consumption, and they are generally not bagged at all (except alcohol, which is sometimes bagged in paper already). But if the law does discourage these purchases, I can’t see that as a bad thing. All this convenience (cough) is for junk that people may like, but no one needs. You know you’re better off without it, but we all seem to have our excuses for not doing the right thing and cleaning up our own diets/habits/environment.
Some senators voiced concern that the fee would be a hardship for low-income Vermonters
If you keep placing an entire income group on a pedestal and continuously shield them from tax increases and fees such as a 10 cent paper bag increase and cost associated with emission testing, then we perpetuate the issue were attempting to correct And go nowhere fast.
Maybe someone can explain to me the reasoning behind banning “single use plastic bags”…they are made from post consumer recycled plastic in most cases aren’t they? So they already served a purpose and the plastic is recycled into another use…a bag. Which, by the way is almost always used for another purpose after leaving the stores. So if we ban the plastic bags, the plastic is then less useful and is wasted? The logic behind this is based on emotions and actually creates more waste by limiting how plastic gets recycled.
Becoming aware of the cumulative problems caused from plastic bags, I long ago would get home, unpack my groceries, then pack all the good bags back into one, and put it in my car for the next trip to the store. Throw it into your shopping cart, then bag your own groceries at check out. Everyone seems to appreciate the effort, which is nothing, really. We shouldnt need new laws if people would only chip in and do their part.
Next the nutcases under the golden dome will ban, free speech, all old cars, all dog and cat poops, hell maybe even toilet paper, you’ll have to use your shirt tail. How many of these legislators stop in a convenient store and grab a to-go cup of coffee…??? Charging 10 cents for a paper bag are you kidding !!! Paper bags are used to cover your school books, oh they don’t use that anymore..mmm.. What about these small convenient stores, people run into them and buys things but have to carry it out in their arms because they didn’t have a tote bag.? Thought Vermont left NY to become an independent state. When did NY buy back Vt ?? Because Vt is sure following NY and CA.. Good way to make small businesses leave Vt.. maybe even big businesses too.