Alaska City Takes First Major Step Towards Banning Plastic Bags

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Another Alaska City is seriously considering imposition of ban on single-use plastic bags. The City of Unalaska has declared fist major step towards banning plastic bags. The City Council which met this Tuesday has authorized the City Manager to develop an ordinance that will ultimately ban disposable bags at grocery stores. The ordinance is likely to generate a list of the different types of plastics that need to be banned, after indulging in thorough consultations with local stores. The directive from councilors follows hearing from resident.

In the hearing, Laresa Syverson, Unalaska resident stated that plastic bag ban would reduce the number of bags littering Unalaska’s beaches and polluting the ocean. The island’s economy is mainly driven by seafood exports. Hence Unalaska must do everything to protect the ocean from plastic waste, she added.

Unalaska has made similar attempts before also to ban single use plastic bags, but in vain. A petition asking city council to pass an ordinance to eliminate the use of plastic bags by Unalaska stores was circulated in 2013. Although it managed to gather signatures from residents, the petition had reached nowhere.

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The final approval of the proposed ban may take more than a year, as councilors expect voting on ban bill to take place sometime next year only. Once the ban is approved, Unalaska will join other Alaska communities including Kodiak, Wasilla, Bethel, Cordova and Hooper Bay that have already prohibited plastic bags.

However, store managers have already raised opposition to the proposal, saying that such a ban will lead to suffering of the community. Furthermore, ban on plastic bags is feared to make groceries more expensive, as retailers are likely to pass on a share of additional costs to the customer.