ESB Tosses Out Recommendation For Plastic Bag Ban
Plastic Recycling | 2026-07-24 01:02:53 | By Paul Ploumis
In conclusion, Benson said a ban is possible; it just needs the political will to get it down.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Another proposed plastic bag ban has been sent to the trash heap. The Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) voted 6-0 to not recommend to Los Alamos County Council an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic bags during its meeting July 16.
Board member Erik Loechell was absent.
The ordinance proposed the following new policy:
“Retail establishments shall not provide or sell to a customer a single-use plastic carryout bag or any other bag or box that is not a reusable carryout bag, recycled content carryout paper bag, or recyclable cardboard box for the purpose of carrying groceries, food, or other goods.”
Furthermore, the ordinance also recommended that “retail establishments are encouraged to impose a fee for each recycled content carryout paper bag provided to customers in order to offset the retail establishment’s costs of complying with this article and to encourage the use of reusable carryout bags.”
The County Code Compliance Officer and code officials would be authorized to enforce this ordinance.
Violating this ordinance would lead to the following penalties:
A fine of no more than $100 for the first violation;
A fine of no more than $200 for the second violation;
A fine of no more than $500 for the third violation; and
A fine of no more than $500 or imprisonment of no more than five days for subsequent violations.
ESB member Sue Barns shared her thoughts on the proposed ban, saying she commends the community on caring about the environment.
“We really do have a community that is widely enthusiastic about recycling. Our recycling numbers totally support that, but I feel we have given them little support in reducing plastic use in the first place,” Barns said. “There’s a whole galaxy of approaches that other communities have taken to this bigger problem, which we could explore if we are interested in having an impact … I think there’s language in the ordinance about the cost to the community in terms of recycling contamination – I did an estimate of this … a rough estimate of how much plastic bags might be contributing to that contamination and overall, I am guessing this might cost us $3,000 a year as a community, which is not a lot of money and not obviously more than what enforcing this ordinance might cost us.”
Barns further noted that not all shoppers in town are locals and she was uncertain about the ban affecting nonresidents. Finally, she said she felt there were bigger sustainability and climate action issues to consider.
Members of the public also expressed their opinions on the proposed ban.
Student Intern for Sustainability Angel Meng reported on the results of a recent survey about the plastic bag ban.
Meng said the cons identified in the survey responses included a burden for citizens and businesses. Respondents said businesses shouldn’t have to produce alternatives and the ban could increase the cost of living for middle-class and fixed-income people. Survey participants said they felt education should be utilized over a ban and they felt the ban would only address a small percentage of plastic waste. Finally, respondents said they don’t believe single use plastic bags contribute to litter, and they questioned how the ban would be enforced.
On the flip side, Meng reported on the pros, which included cutting down on plastic pollution and risks to wildlife. Proponents said they feel reusable bags are easy to utilize and pointed out that other communities have successfully enacted bans. Finally, a ban would align with the County’s climate and sustainability goals.
During public comment, speaking as a private citizen, Smith’s Market Place Assistant Manager Jason Chappel said, “I think everyone here shares the goal of having a cleaner community and reducing unnecessary waste. My concern isn’t (the) goal but rather if this particular approach is the most effective use to achieve it. From a business standpoint, I recognize reducing bag usage could lower costs to retailers like mine but my greater concern lies in our local small businesses, independent grocers like the co-op, stores, restaurants and other small retailers don’t have the same ability that we do to absorb the higher packaging costs and I believe those impacts deserve careful consideration.”
“The thing I want to focus on are trade-offs,” Los Alamos resident Joyce Anderson said. “Alternate bags like cloth, heavier weight plastic bags or polypropylene bags have their tradeoffs, they also have environmental impacts and it’s just very important to me to let people make the best choices for themselves.”
Anderson added that she felt the penalties outlined in the proposed ordinance are punitive and might violate the eighth amendment of cruel and unusual punishment.
“Four days in jail for a petty misdemeanor is ridiculous,” she said.
Ultimately, Anderson said her hope was to never return to the Municipal Building to discuss a potential bag ban.
Not everyone was against banning plastic-single use bags.
Los Alamos resident Jody Benson said “We have been working on this since 2014, I gotta say it is not a question of science. Plastic bags – microplastics are dangerous to the environment, to humans, to all species – it is not a question of science, it is a question of political will. I want to remind people … in 1957 our CDC understood that smoking cigarettes was dangerous to health. It wasn’t until 2007 that New Mexico imposed a smoking ban in closed spaces. I don’t know about you, but I am happy to have that smoking ban because smoking is a personal choice, a personal habit but it is unhealthy to me and for the environment.”
In conclusion, Benson said a ban is possible; it just needs the political will to get it down.
Another speaker voiced support for the bag ban. She calculated that on average a household gets at least 12 bags a week, totaling 624 bags a year. With 8,000 households in town, that means 4.9 million plastic bags are used in Los Alamos a year. Breaking down the cost, she said each bag costs 2 cents, totaling $99,840 for close to 5 million bags. Plus, plastic sticks around, she said, anywhere between 20 to 2,000 years. The plastic degrades into microplastics, which are found everywhere, even inside humans.
The ESB’s decision is not the final one. Council Chair Randall Ryti told the Los Alamos Daily Post that council will consider the board’s recommendation during its Aug. 4 meeting.
Courtesy: www.ladailypost.com