It comes down to the Republican law makers in Raleigh NC.
See Update as of 9.21.23 below original post.
However, our County Commissioners didn't even have this proposed ban on their agenda Tues. evening. So members of the public shared their concerns. I'll try to show some clips that may be interesting. But here's the bottom line, as they say...
From Mountain True...an environmental group
Breaking News: A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging.
This language would preempt local control and undermine existing provisions of the NC Solid Waste Management Act that give counties and cities the authority to ban single-use plastic bags and other forms of packaging and the use of plastic foam (e.g., styrofoam) in foodware.
Plastic pollution is a threat to our environment and to the health of North Carolina residents. Email your legislators and let them know that our right to protect ourselves from dangerous pollutants is too important to be traded away to fossil fuel and retail industry lobbyists in backroom deals.
Facts About Our Ban on Single-Use Plastics
A ban on single-use plastic bags in Buncombe County would have significant environmental benefits.
A ban on single-use plastic bags paired with a 10-cent fee on paper bags would reduce Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 43%, fossil fuel consumption by 86%, solid waste by 66%, greenhouse gas emissions by 83%, fresh water consumption by 32%, and energy use by 73.3% compared to plastic. Read more about the environmental benefits of our proposed ordinance here.
Our plastic bag ban would not be overly burdensome for people with lower incomes.
Our proposed ordinance would exempt customers using EBT, SNAP, and WIC from paying the 10-cent fee on paper bags. Even without that exception, the average cost to Buncombe County consumers would only be $3.33 per year, and customers can reduce or eliminate those costs by bringing reusable bags to the store.
Buncombe County has the legal authority to pass a plastic bag ban under the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Act.
The NC Solid Waste Management Act asserts that it’s North Carolina's policy to prioritize waste reduction at the source and mandates that towns, cities, and counties implement programs and other actions to address deficiencies and “protect human health and the environment.” Because the presence of a pollutant that is harmful to human health and the environment has been documented in our region, the law mandates that local governments act.
BACKGROUND
Microplastics are a dangerous emerging contaminant.
Plastics don’t biodegrade; they break down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastic that stay in our environment for thousands of years.
These microscopic pieces of plastic waste are everywhere.
We all breathe/consume approximately one credit card’s worth of microplastics every week. Microplastics have been found in the human placenta and breast milk.
Plastic production generates as much CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) gas as 116 coal-fired power plants.
As of 2020, the US plastics industry was responsible for at least 232 million tons of CO2e gas emissions per year, which is the equivalent of 116 average-sized (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants (Beyond Plastics: The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change, 2021).
Plastic production is ramping up and much of it is for the purpose of creating wasteful, single-use plastics.
42% of plastic production is for single-use packaging (Science Advances: Production, Use, and Fate of All Plastic Ever Made, 2017). Half of all plastics created were produced in the last 15 years (NRDC: Single-Use Plastic 101, 2020).
Plastic films account for 40% of the microplastics found in the French Broad River. MountainTrue has conducted widespread microplastic sampling throughout the French Broad Watershed. On average, we’ve found 15.5 pieces of microplastic per 1-liter sample of water, with some samples as high as 40 or 50 pieces per liter. The most common type of microplastics in the French Broad River is films (39.5%), the sources of which are plastic bags, food packaging, and candy wrappers.
Plastics are harmful to human health.
Plastics contain 7% chemical additives on average. Researchers suspect these chemicals contribute to reproductive health problems and declining sperm counts in Western countries. Phthalates, used to enhance the durability of plastic products, are found in personal care products, food packaging, children's toys, shower curtains, and more. These chemical additives disrupt the endocrine system and harm the reproductive and nervous systems.
Styrofoam contains a likely carcinogen that leaches into food, drinks, and water supplies.
Styrene is used to make styrofoam cups, food containers, and disposable coolers, and leaches into the food and drinks they hold and from landfills into drinking water. It’s classified as a likely human carcinogen that causes liver, kidney, and circulatory problems.
UPDATED 9/21/23
A member of the Plastic-Free WNC coalition shows off a suit of plastic litter at a rally in Pack Square before advocating for a plastic bag ban during the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting Sept. 19. Photo by Greg Parlie
Following a rally of about 50 in Pack Square on Sept. 19, more than a dozen members of the Plastic-Free WNC coalition urged the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to fight for its right to ban single-use plastic bags with a countywide ordinance.
The group had to change its message abruptly as state legislators added language to the state budget that would bar counties from regulating plastic bags.
“It’s a cynical and shameful ploy to deny you the ability to serve your constituents. It’s anti-democratic, and I look forward to working together with you to reject this encroachment on our rights to protect our health and the health of our mountains, rivers and streams,” Karim Olaechea, deputy director of strategy and communications for MountainTrue. told commissioners during public comment.
A draft of the state budget now includes the following: “No county may adopt an ordinance, resolution, regulation or rule to restrict, tax, charge a fee, prohibit or otherwise regulate the use, disposition or sale of an auxiliary container.” Auxiliary containers are defined as “a bag, cup, package, container, bottle, device or other packaging.”
State Sen. Julie Mayfield, former MountainTrue co-director who has advocated for a single-use plastic bag ban, said she expected the budget to pass with the language intact.
“I think we may have lost this round, unfortunately. But we’re not finished. I mean, I won’t lie; this is an unfortunate setback, but it does not mean that we’re going away on our advocacy around plastic production,” Mayfield told Xpress Sept. 20.
