Ban on Plastic Bags?

The Senate State and Local Government Committee gave its approval today to a modified version of SB 1018. The original bill banned retailers from providing plastic bags to customers and could only provide paper bags that were made from recycled materials. The bill approved today would limit the counties affected to Currituck, Dare and Hyde. According to the Retail Merchants Association, this bill would cost stores between $12,000 and $15,000 to comply. Those cost would surely be passed along to consumers in higher prices. The other fairly funny/ironic thing about this is, as any of you who have been to the outer banks would know, is that there isn't any curbside or on the beach recycling in the beach communities. So we need to pass a law banning plastic grocery bags because they clog up the landfills, but the local communities themselves don't even provide convenient recycling facilities for the residents and tourists who frequent. Seems like this is fairly backwards thinking if you ask me.

Comments

[brian b]

"Those cost would surely be passed along to consumers in higher prices."

Not necessarily true. Stores may not be willing to pass along higher prices to consumers, especially in these tight times, for fear of losing business. Instead, the more likely scenario would be that stores would cut payroll.

Perhaps this bill could be called the "bag boy unemployment act."

For more on how businesses "pass along" higher taxes see this article (the same concept would apply to gov't mandates that increase the cost of doing business):
http://www.nccivitas.org/media/publication-archive/perspective/whose-fair-share-it-anyway

[Bob Oakes]

Several towns on the Outer Banks are offering curbside recycling through a franchise arrangement with Outer Banks Hauling. There have been recycling trailers available for at least 15 years, and they are heavily used.

Ocracoke also encourages recycling, and my company has offered a curbside recycling pickup for the last two years.

How did you check your facts on your ironical statement?

[Chris Hayes]

I checked my facts by my firsthand experience when I rented a place out there.

Sorry I didn't check every community, but if you would like to front me the cash to secure a rental in every town, I'll be happy to come back and do some more investigating.

Just wondering Bob, where do you take the recycling and garbage since Basnight will not let any new landfills be built anywhere in the state?