The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Plastic bag ban hearing May 9
Madison County residents will have an opportunity to provide their feedback and input for the recently-proposed local law that would ban plastic carry-out bags.
A public hearing will be at 2 p.m. May 9 in the Board of Su- pervisors’ Chambers at the Madison County Office building in Wampsville.
The public is invited to attend the hearing to express their opinion; comments are also being accepted by e-mail at solidwaste@madisoncounty.ny.gov
This law, entitled “CARRYOUT BAG REDUCTION” introduced by Town of Lebanon Su- pervisor James Goldstein, seeks to protect the environment, reduce pollution and control litter by eliminating the single use plastic carryout bag from certain retail stores.
According to the proposed law, food service establishments and liquor stores would be exempted from the ban, but wholesale and retail stores that sell personal, consumer or household items including grocery stores, supermarkers, convenience stores, hardware stores, food marts, pharmacies, apparel stores, home centers, stationary and office supply stores, would be subject to it.
In connection with the proposed plastic carryout bag ban and public hearing, the Depart- ment of Solid Waste is conducting an education campaign focusing on the problems associated with single use carryout plastic bags. The department will also be distributing free reusable cloth bags to replace the single use plastic bags.
“Our newest ‘staff member’ Polly Ethel (a life size manne-
quin dressed in 500 plastic bags) has been making appearances at events and public spaces throughout Madison County to raise awareness of the plastic bag problem,” said Recycling Coordinator Mary Bartlett. “Polly wears 500 bags because this is the average number of bags one shopper uses in one year.”
According to most recent Census projections, 80 percent of Madison County residents are adults above the age of 18. Assuming county residents of adult age or higher use an average of 500 bags a year, and with that age group representing an estimated 57,000 of county residents in 2016, Madison County adults are responsible for 28.53 million plastic bags a year.
Polly Ethel will be at the landfill Scale House on Buyea Road for the Earth Day event on Saturday, April 22.
Free reusable bags will be distributed at the Earth Day event and are also available at the landfill office on Buyea Road Monday through Friday from 8 a. m. to 4 p.m.
According to legislative findings, plastic bags are among the more problematic types of trash and litter. Even when properly disposed of, they take between 500 to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill; even then, they do not biodegrade, but rather break apart into ever smaller pieces that cannot be absorbed by the soil as nutrients or digested by microbes. Plastic bags clog sewers and storm drains, exacerbating the flooding that threatens low-lying neighborhoods, and accumulate in rivers, streams and lakes, where they become a threat to aquatic life.
Carryout bags create large amounts of litter that in turn costs the Madison County Department of Solid Waste significant time and resources to clean up. The county finds and declares that banning the use of carryout plastic bags will be beneficial to the environment, reduce litter, improve the aesthetics of the county and help to control flood- ing, thereby improving the safety, health and welfare of Madison County’s citizens.
For more information or to receive a free reusable bag, contact the Madison County Department of Solid Waste Recycling hotline 1- 800721-2208.