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Waste & Recycling March 13, 2018 06:30:27 AM

Environmental Groups Demand Ban on Single-Use Plastic Shopping Bags

Waste Advantage
ScrapMonster Author
The groups signed a letter to Cuomo and legislative leaders Friday urging the state to enact a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, the Daily News has learned.

Environmental Groups Demand Ban on Single-Use Plastic Shopping Bags

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage):  A coalition of nearly 200 environmental and community groups from across New York is urging Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers to ban plastic bags.

The groups signed a letter to Cuomo and legislative leaders Friday urging the state to enact a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, the Daily News has learned.

“We urge you to take immediate action to reduce litter and the fossil fuels that create them, save tax dollars, and protect the environment and wildlife,” the letter stated.

“We urge you to take immediate action to reduce litter and the fossil fuels that create them, save tax dollars, and protect the environment and wildlife,” the letter stated.

The groups — including the New York Public Interest Research Group, Environmental Advocates, the Waterkeeper Alliance and the Newtown Creek Alliance — warn that plastic shopping bags are a “global problem” that harm wildlife and are “ever-present in waterways, along streets and in oceans and lakes.”

They urged the state to adopt measures similar to those enacted by California, which banned the thin plastic bags frequently used by supermarkets and placed a minimum 10-cent fee on paper and thicker plastic bags.

The letter was sent days after Mayor de Blasio called for a ban on plastic bags and Gov. Cuomo indicated he was considering such a move for the state.

“It’s clear that we need to address the real environmental concerns caused by the proliferation of plastic bags, and a ban is one of the options we’re reviewing,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said on Monday.

State lawmakers — especially the GOP-controlled Senate — remain reluctant, however, to enact such a ban.

A prohibition on single-use bags was one of several options put forward in January by a task force Cuomo created to study the issue of plastic waste.

Cuomo created the task force last year after he signed a measure that blocked the city from going forward with a 5-cent fee on plastic and paper disposable bags.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com

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