ALBANY, New York, December 15, 2008 (ENS) – New York Governor David Paterson Saturday signed legislation to increase the collection and recycling of plastic carryout bags from large stores and retail or grocery chain stores across the state.

Originally passed by the State Legislature in June, the bill was held up by a potential conflict between the state law and a more expansive bag recycling law passed by the City of New York in January.

With a comprehensive plastic recycling law in place at the state level, local governments are pre-empted from adopting their own laws on this issue.

The state legislation initially threatened to preempt New York City’s law, and would have reduced the number of city stores required to accept bags from consumers for recycling.

However, Governor Paterson Saturday announced an agreement on legislation that “grandparents” in the city’s plastic bag law, so as to allow it to remain in full force and effect.

Plastic bag caught in a New York City tree
(Photo by Andrea Demers)

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “Today marks a great victory for environmental responsibility in New York City and throughout the state. Thanks to the efforts of the City Council and a host of environmental advocates, the legislation signed by Governor Paterson has been altered to preserve the city’s landmark plastic bag recycling law.”

The state’s compromise measure met with the approval of state agency officials, environmentalists, entertainer Bette Midler, who founded the New York Restoration Project, even the American Chemistry Council.

The new state law takes effect on January 1, 2009. It covers retail stores with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, or those that are part of a chain with more than five stores, each with more than 5,000 square feet of retail space.

These stores must provide bins for the collection of used plastic carryout bags, recycle the returned bags, and keep records for three years describing the amount of plastic bags collected and recycled.

“Even during difficult times we must be protective stewards of our environment, and continue to find ways to keep our daily routines from negatively impacting the long-term health of the planet,” said Governor Paterson, announcing the new law. “By making changes in our daily lives and business practices, we can conserve natural resources, save energy and reduce our ecological footprint.”

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said, “Governor Paterson has delivered a significant win for the environment. This new law will help boost recycling and reduce waste goals all New Yorkers share.”

Senator Carl Marcellino, chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee and co-author of the bill, said, “This bill will make it convenient and easy for residents across the state to recycle plastic bags. Their efforts will save landfill space, reduce litter and decrease our dependence on foreign oil. It is small steps like these that green our world.”

Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation, the bill’s other co-author, said, “This is the strongest state plastic bag recycle law in the country. New York consumers and environmentalists can be proud that our state is taking strong action to reduce the amount of loose plastic bags that would otherwise end up in our delicate ecosystem. This law will also cut down the amount of petroleum used to produce these bags.”

Midler commended Governor Paterson for recognizing the need for New York City to have a more stringent program for recycling plastic bags. “Americans use over 84 billion plastic bags annually, about one billion of them in New York City,” she said. “This is an important step toward building a comprehensive solid waste management regime, and on behalf of all of us in New York City, I thank you for your understanding of the severity of the problem and your cooperation in finding a solution.”

Eric Goldstein, New York Urban Program Director at the Natural Resource Defense Council, said, “The billions of plastic bags that are used in New York State every year impose a mounting environmental burden. They litter our streets, sidewalks, highways and parks. They get into waterways and endanger marine life. They end up in landfills, where it can take up to 1,000 years for them to decompose. Substituting throw-away plastic bags with reusable sacks is a small lifestyle change that can make a big difference over time.”

“This is a significant victory for New York’s citizens and the environment,” said Sharon Kneiss, vice president of the Products Divisions of the American Chemistry Council, a chemicals industry association. “The new law creates one consistent standard statewide that all municipalities can follow, while allowing existing programs to continue uninterrupted.”

“The two states with the largest populations on each coast now have statewide plastic bag recycling programs,” Kneiss said, referring to recently enacted similar legislation in California. “Clearly, lawmakers recognize that plastics are a valuable material that should be recycled.”

The American Chemistry Council’s latest statistics show that the recycling of plastic bags and wraps increased 24 percent nationwide in 2006. Legislation in New York, California and numerous large cities is expected to increase the amount of plastic bags and wraps that are diverted from landfills and turned into new consumer products, such as durable decking, fencing, railings, shopping carts and new bags.

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NEW YORK, New York, February 15, 2008 (ENS) – New York City Council passed legislation Wednesday that makes New York the first major municipality in the nation to tackle the rising tide of discarded electronics in the waste stream.

Manufacturers of computers, TVs and MP3 players will have to take responsibility for the collection of their own electronic products when New Yorkers want to dispose of them.

The law phases in a city-wide electronics recycling program for the 25,000 tons of discarded electronics the city collects annually.

“Every time you turn around there’s a new iPod or iPhone, a new slimmer laptop or a bigger TV enticing you to purchase it,” said Kate Sinding, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC. “With the speed at which we upgrade our gadgets these days, it’s no wonder that electronics are the fastest-growing part of our waste stream.”

TV trashed in New York
City. (Photo by J.&D. Martens
via Flickr)

“But now, with the city’s adoption of a 21st-century recycling measure,” said Sinding, “New York has found a solution that will undoubtedly become the model for other jurisdictions around the nation.”

“Speaker [Christine] Quinn, chief sponsor Bill de Blasio and Sanitation Committee chair Michael McMahon, along with the rest of the bill’s sponsors, deserve a great deal of credit for passing this measure, which Mayor Bloomberg should quickly sign into law,” she said.

The law known as Intro. 104-A, was sponsored by 47 council members. Proponents say the measure will save the city money and give manufacturers the incentive to design less toxic and easier-to-recycle products.

The city’s Department of Sanitation will have to approve each manufacturer’s collection plan, which could include curbside collection, drop-off events or mail-in programs.

The new measure received support from major corporations such as Apple and GE, and Tekserve, one of New York City’s largest computer retailers.

Nearly two dozen environmental groups support the measure, including the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, the League of Conservation Voters, the New York Public Interest Research Group and the Lower East Side Ecology Center.

The law requires companies to begin collecting old equipment in July 2009.

Starting in July 2010, the Department of Sanitation will no longer accept electronic products covered in the bill for collection and can fine manufacturers if they fail to submit approvable plans and/or fail to meet specific performance standards in implementing them.

By 2012, manufacturers must take back at least 25 percent by weight of their current sales for recycling or reuse; by 2015 they must collect 45 percent.

By 2018, manufacturers must collect at least 65 percent of their current sales.

“New Yorkers now have a clear, simple answer to the question: ‘What do I do with my old iPod, TV, or computer?’” said Sinding. “And, finally, all those old electronic products collecting dust in our homes can be disposed of properly, affording us a little extra closet space as well.”

Old electronics account for about 40 percent of the lead found in municipal landfills as well as mercury, cadmium, and other toxic heavy metals in landfills and municipal incinerators, the NRDC says.

Currently, much of New York City’s electronic waste is burned in the Newark incinerator, polluting the air in New York and New Jersey with heavy metals.

Sinding said, “We now have a smarter way to deal with old electronics that doesn’t include burning them or burying them in landfills.”

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NEW YORK, New York, January 10, 2008 (ENS) – New York City Council Wednesday passed new legislation that would encourage recycling of single-use plastic bags at large supermarkets and other retail outlets throughout the city.

The legislation, sponsored by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and others, would require large retail outlets in New York City to establish in-store plastic bag recycling programs, inform consumers of the availability of such programs and to offer reusable bags for sale.

The measure applies to stores in the city that use plastic bags and occupy 5,000 or more square feet or have more than five branches operating in New York City.

The legislation requires store operators to provide an easily accessible collection bin for plastic bags in visible locations. In addition, the stores will be required to use plastic bags that display the words “Please return this bag to a participating store for recycling” or a similar message as well as make reusable bags available for purchase.

The stores will also be required to submit annual reports to the Department of Sanitation on the amount and weight of collected plastic bags.

“Plastic bags all too often end up littering our city’s streets, and polluting our soil and water,” said Quinn. “New Yorkers want to be environmentally responsible, and we need to give them a chance to reduce the number of plastic bags they use, and recycle the ones they already have. This legislation will create convenient opportunities for bags to be recycled, in a way that’s friendly to both local businesses and to the environment.”

Quinn said the bill would help to protect the environment, to keep litter off city streets and to reduce and recycle as many plastic bags as possible.

Plastic bag recycling bin in use in
Iowa. (Photo courtesy The
Packaging Institute)

“This bill mandates a simple, easily instituted plan that strikes a balance between convenience and conscience,” said Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., lead sponsor of the bill. “With everyone’s help, we can help reduce a major form of waste and make our city a more environmentally friendly place.”

Americans use an estimated 84 billion plastic bags annually, about one billion of them in New York City. The production of plastic bags worldwide uses over 12 million barrels of oil per year, causing other negative environmental impacts, the council members pointed out.

“The flood of used plastic bags is clogging our streets and natural areas with litter, while causing a serious depletion of natural resources,” said Sanitation Committee Chair Michael McMahon. “Our push towards recycling will help secure a cleaner and greener New York.”

The nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC, applauded council’s approval of the legislation.

“The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year, clogging our cabinets, kitchen drawers and landfills. They’re hanging from trees, and littering our beaches,” said NRDC Urban Program co-director, Eric Goldstein.

“The bill ensures that retailers will give customers a better choice than simply throwing away a product made from oil that will sit in a landfill for up to a thousand years,” he said.

Plastic bags and other plastic film, which is also covered by the bill, represents four to five percent of the city’s residential waste load, the New York City Sanitation Department has found. No more than five percent of plastic grocery bags were recycled across the country in 2005, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Goldstein said, “The proposed legislation will discourage the one-time use and throw-away of plastic bags, reduce energy consumption and global warming gases, and lead at least some New Yorkers to think about the cost to taxpayers and the city’s environment from wasteful packaging practices.”

In March 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to pass a law banning plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets and large chain pharmacies. Officials in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, California, and Austin, Texas, are considering similar bans.

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