City of Austin Considers New Bill to Revive Plastic Bag Ban

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Months after the City’s decision not to enforce ban on plastic bag usage, further to ruling by the Texas Supreme Court, efforts are on to revive the ban. Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin has proposed a new bill that would allow Texas cities like Austin to re-introduce the ban.

In a long-awaited ruling, the Texas Supreme Court had stated that the local bans imposed by cities are in conflict with the state law that prohibits cities from trying to impose ban on containers and packages. As per Texas Constitution, city ordinances cannot conflict with state law. The court also ruled that it includes the disposable plastic bags provided by retail checkout counters. The Supreme Court ruling had nullified the City of Austin’s 5-year old ban on disposable plastic bags.

The new bill proposes to narrow the definition of containers and packages so as to not include single-use plastic bags provided by retail outlets. This, in turn could help the city to re-introduce the ban. The previous legislative session had witnessed approval of a similar bill by the House Urban Affairs Committee. The proposed bill, if passed by the Texas House, would advance to the state Senate.

The ban on plastic bags, aimed at addressing the environmental problems caused by plastic litter, had been extremely successful in reducing the consumption of single-use plastics.