BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont legislators are considering proposals aimed at curbing the use of plastic shopping bags.
While the bags can be recycled at stores, they can’t be discarded in curbside recycling because the plastic can cause machinery at Chittenden County's recycling facility to stop, the Burlington Free Press reported.
A bill in the Legislature would ban single-use, nonrecyclable, noncombustible plastic and nonrecycled paper bags. Another proposal imposes a 10-cent-per-bag purchase fee at checkout counters.
Several states and cities around the country have passed similar laws.
“It's a long time overdue," Richard Finkelstein, of South Burlington, said last week after shopping in Burlington. “I don't think it’s inconvenient at all.”
Ryan Nick of Burlington, who was walking downtown with a Trader Joe's paper bag under his arm, thinks a ban “is a little severe.”
Shoppers may return used plastic bags to Hannford and other grocery stores for recycling.
“Our view has very consistently been that this is a local decision, and we're going to make it work for our customers,” said Hannford spokesman Eric Blom.
Yet, many Vermonters don't know they can recycle the bags at grocery stores where the material is hauled to special recycling facilities where it becomes composite decking, said Ray Dube, sustainability manager for Coca Cola of Northern New England.
“This is by far probably the worst-educated thing we have in our recycling stream,” Dube told legislators this month. “The recycling of plastic bags is very easy.”
Erin Sigrist, president of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association, says consumers will need to be educated about any changes.
“Some type of cultural shift has to happen,” she said. “It's just, what will it look like, and how will we get there as smoothly as possible?”
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