Columbia considering partial ban on plastic bags

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Columbia is looking into a partial ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, following the lead of California and numerous other cities and counties across the nation.

A commission that advises the city council on environmental issues was asked last month to review a proposal focusing mainly on grocery stores, the largest distributors of the bags to customers, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. Retailers that wouldn't be affected include clothing stores and dine-in and takeout restaurants.

Affected retailers would be required to charge 10 cents for reusable paper bags. Environment and Energy Commission member Jan Dye said the intent is to encourage customers to use reusable bags rather than to make them choose paper over plastic.

The ban would not apply to bags for produce or meats that are intended to prevent the product from coming into contact with other items.

Leah Christian, a management fellow in city manager Mike Matthes' office who is researching similar bag-ban ordinances, said the goal is to present the council with a report on a proposed ban by December. If the council approves it, it would not take effect until a year after its passage, and violators would be fined between $100 and $300.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said a relatively small percentage of plastic bags are recycled. In 2012, 9 percent of the 32 million tons of plastic waste generated was recycled, and 12 percent of that share was plastic bags, sacks and wraps.

Dye, also a member of a steering committee within the local Sierra Club chapter formed to promote the ban, said prohibiting some businesses from using plastic bags would amount to picking the "low-hanging fruit" as far as keeping litter out of local waterways and the Missouri River.

Last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the first statewide ban on plastic bags. However, opponents are collecting signatures in an effort to force a referendum vote on the ban on the November 2016 ballot. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, bans also are pending in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico. Additionally, every county in Hawaii and a number of cities in other states have bans in place.

The American Progressive Bag Alliance, which represents bag manufacturers, argues such bans will put jobs at risk and that paper bag production is more harmful to the environment than plastic-bag production.

Information from: Columbia Daily Tribune, http://www.columbiatribune.com