New Castle Institutes Plastic Bag Ban

The Town Board of New Castle, NY voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a Reusable Bag Initiative local law. 

This vote followed a public hearing last week where residents were asked what was most important to them: the health of their families, combating climate change, reducing the costs of cleanup around town, reducing costs for local businesses, saving the environment for the next generation or alternatively, minimally more convenient shopping? An overwhelming majority of people at the public hearing and in emails to the Town Board chose to be more environmental, create a healthier planet, and to help local businesses.

"Since announcing our public hearing on the Reusable Bag Initiative, our young people have made their voices heard – loud & clear," said town Supervisor Rob Greenstein on Wednesday. "They respect our environment and want us to do the same.  We must save our children from living in a world with environmental deterioration.  We must strive to sustain our natural resources and our environment for future generations.  It takes one town and city at a time to make a difference.  I want to thank Steve Wolk, and our incredible Sustainability Advisory Board, for their dedication and tireless commitment to preserving our planet for the next generation while at the same time reducing town, residential, and business costs. A win-win in the greenest sense!"

Steven Wolk, Chairman of New Castle’s Sustainability Advisory Board, said  “The proposed law will make New Castle a more sustainable town in every sense of the word - environmentally, economically, and socially.  We believe that by leading the way for other municipalities, even a small town like New Castle can have an enormous positive impact."

While New Castle would not be the first municipality in the country to pass a bag law  that reduces both single-use plastic and paper shopping bags, the law is the most comprehensive, environmental, and pro-business law of its kind in New York State, Wolk said.

The law will encourage residents to bring their reusable bags when shopping. 

Wolk and Jennifer Mebes Flagg, Board Member, New Castle Sustainability Advisory Board, described the law:

The law bans single-use plastic shopping bags at all stores and requires stores that provide the majority of single-use bags to charge 10 cents for paper bags.  

The entire 10-cent charge would be kept by the stores, which would help offset their costs for paper bags. 

More importantly, the 10-cent charge would remind residents that a bag may not be needed or a reusable bag would be a better choice.

Single-use plastic shopping bags are extremely harmful to the environment. They contribute to climate change, they break down and the resulting plastic particles end up in the fish we eat, they create unsightly litter, clog storm drains, and are produced with depleting natural resources.  Birds, fish, turtles and other wildlife are injured or killed when they confuse plastic bags with food. Unfortunately, single-use paper bags are not a solution as they produce twice the carbon footprint, four times the waste, and require twenty times more water to produce than plastic shopping bags.

Some bags would be permitted without charge, including meat and produce plastic bags, dry cleaning bags, prescription drug bags, newspaper bags, and greeting card bags.