1. Report Summation
 Plastics have beenthe cause of much environmentaldegradation,necessitating
legislative action designedtoaddressingthisenvironmental catastrophe.
 Plasticuse,andspecificallysingle-use plasticbags(SUPB),is economicallycostly.
Approximately $10million of taxpayermoneyisusedtotransport100,000 tonsof these
bags to landfillsandrecyclingcentersinNYCalone.
 As a resultof these environmental andeconomicconcerns,the New YorkCityCouncil
passed Intro.0209 whichwouldimpose a10-centfee onSingle-use plasticbags usedat
the checkoutat grocery stores.
 Single-use plasticbagsare targetedforthe fee because they resonate withconsumers
as the most identifiable representationof theiroverall plastics use.The goal of the fee is
therefore nottoraise moneybutto begintoreduce our dependence onplastics.
 Bans,taxesand feeshave beenimplementedinmanycountries,municipalities,and
citiesaroundthe world.FirstproposedinBangladesh,withelevenothercountries
followingsuit,abanon SUPB’s hasprovento be an ineffective policyforcurbingoverall
plasticuse anddifficulttoimplementandenforce.Taxesandfees,suchasthose in
Dallas,Washington,D.C,andparticularlyIrelandandBoulder,have proven tobe a
successful andpopularpolicyforbeginningtocurbthe use of plasticsinthe United
States.
 WashingtonD.C., Boulder,and Dallas provide precedentsforsuccessful taxesonthe
use of SUPB’s
 The plasticbag industryhasraised considerableoppositiontothe proposedfee inNew
York City as well assimilarproposalsinthe UnitedStates.
 In NewYorkCity,plasticbag distributorNOVOLEXhasmade fourmainpointsagainst
the proposedpiece of legislation:
1) Plasticbagscan be recycled
2) Plasticsmake uponly1-2% of the litterfoundinthe wastewaterstream, makingita
veryarbitraryplace to target
3) The proposal wouldhurtthose that couldnotaffordto pay the fee
4) The industryemploys 1,800 people inNYS,whose jobprospectswouldnow be
limitedinthe eventof afee
 In response toNOVOLEX’sarguments,itbecomesclearthat:
1) While plasticscanandshouldbe recycled,the currentproposal inthe CityCouncil as
well asfuture legislationisdesignedtoreduce ouroverall use of plasticsinthe future,
somethingthatpromotingonlyrecyclingdoesnotdo.
2) Like pointno.1,a plasticbag fee/tax isdesignedtoputNYCon a path towards
sustainabilitybylayingthe groundworkforfuture legislation.Furthermore,toeven
reduce 1-2% of the litterinthe City’swaterstreamwouldbe asignificantenvironmental
achievement.
3) Residentswhoare onthe WIC & SNAPprogramswouldbe exemptif theypaywith
theircards at the checkout.

2. 4) These 1,800 peoples’jobprospectwouldnotbe limitedsince theywouldsimply
move towardsproducingforthe Tri-state/National market.
 The current proposal inthe Citycouncil mandatesafee,wherebythe moniescollected
goingsolelytostoreowners.If a tax wasimplementedinstead,the Citycouldkeepa
percentage of moniesraisedtofundvariouseducational andenvironmentalinitiatives
like the “AnacostiaRiverProtectionFund”inWashingtonD.C.