The big apple and the whole state is getting a little greener on March 1, 2020
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It is one of the figures of excessive consumerism: New York, its 8.5 million inhabitants, and its financial center which influences the world.
The big apple will, however, change its face (a little) as of March 1, 2020. The city will ban single-use plastic bags in most businesses, a measure still rare in the United States, the result of four years of ‘efforts.
85% of bags are thrown away
New York State consumes some 23 billion plastic bags per year, according to official figures. About 85% of them end up being dumped, polluting streets, beaches or landing in landfills, explains Le Figaro.
In 2016, the first city in the United States passed a law imposing a tax of 5 cents per bag, but it was overturned statewide.
According to Kate Kurera, deputy director of the Environmental Advocates of New York organization, the measure should “Considerably reduce” plastic pollution, despite multiple exemptions. For example, all take-out food that New Yorkers love, for example, may continue to be wrapped in plastic.
Not unanimity
But the measure is not unanimous. “A lot of people are furious, they want plastic”, often because they use them as garbage bags, explains Terri Maldonado, a cashier in a supermarket on the Lower East Side. “They have never bought garbage bags in their life.”
Although fines – up to $ 500 per bag in the event of a repeat offense – are planned for stores that continue to donate plastic bags, New York State intends first to prioritize education and encourage residents to have always with them a reusable bag.
As for the paper bags, their cost could vary according to the county of the State of New York in which one is located. Each county must indeed choose whether or not to levy a tax of 5 cents per paper bag, which will feed a fund for the environment. Three counties including the one that includes New York City, out of 62, have already opted for this tax.
Texas bans ban
Apart from New York, California, Oregon, and indeed Hawaii have already banned them. Four other states have adopted laws to this effect, which will come into force shortly. But some like the Texas have banned their cities from banning plastic bags.
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