Newtown Township Enacts Ban On Certain Single-Use Plastics

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Newtown Township has joined a growing list of municipalities in Pennsylvania banning certain single-use plastic.

In a 4 to 1 vote on Wednesday night, the Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance that will ban
restaurants and businesses in the township from providing single-use carry out plastic bags and Styrofoam food containers to their customers except when required for food safety.

The ordinance would also prohibit restaurants and businesses from providing single-use plastic straws and utensils except by request from the customer.

The ordinance is scheduled to take effect on April 9, 2024.

The delayed implementation will give businesses time to meet the requirements of the ordinance. It will also give the township's Environmental Advisory Council additional time to further educate businesses and residents of the changes.

The ordinance would also allow businesses to request a temporary exemption of up to a year in order to deplete their current inventories of single-use plastics.

Beginning on March 10, retail establishments will be required to post signage for six months informing customers that single-use plastic carry out bags will no longer be provided.

Banned plastic products include polystyrene food containers; plastic plates; hot and cold plastic beverage cups; trays; and plastic clamshells.

Exceptions include beverages that have been packaged in expanded polystyrene outside the township; a product made of expanded polystyrene that is used to package raw, uncooked or butchered meat, fish, poultry or seafood; and non-foam polystyrene food service products.

“This is a good first step for Newtown Township,” said Supervisor Elen Snyder. “We have worked very hard for four years on this. I am very proud of the people who have helped put this together. And I think it’s a real feather in our cap.”

Snyder joined fellow Democrats on the board Dennis Fisher, John Mack and Phil Calabro in voting in favor of the motion. Republican Supervisor Kyle Davis voted against the motion.

“The waste reason is a good reason to be concerned," said Davis. "I just don’t like the government's interference in everyone’s lives. I don’t like government intrusion.”

His sentiments were echoed by several residents from Newtown Grant who attended the sparsely attended meeting. Both public commenters said the issue should be left to the business community and their customers.

“The environmental thing, it is a problem,” admitted resident John D’Aprile. “But let someone higher than Newtown Township take care of this. It’s kind of ridiculous to be doing this in a small township. In a large city, okay. If you look who’s doing this, it’s the Democrat cities. Stop pushing your agenda on little Newtown,” he told the supervisors.

Snyder disagreed with D’Aprile’s characterization of the ordinance as a single party effort.

“This is not a Democrat thing. This is a bi-partisan thing. If you go to every business in the township, no matter what affiliation they have, they are for helping the environment,” said Snyder. “Ninety-five percent of our businesses have done this already and the other five percent are willing to comply.

“This is not just little Newtown doing this. This is a grassroots effort that has been, by and large, successful,” said Snyder. “We’re doing the serious work to let our governor and our legislators
know how serious we are about this.”

Newtown is the latest municipality in Bucks County to pass an ordinance banning single use plastics. Last year, Doylestown Borough adopted a ban on single use plastic bags. Solebury also voted to ban single use plastic bags along with plastic straws and polystyrene food containers.

Other Pennsylvania municipalities that have approved a single-use plastic ban include Solebury, Tredyffrin, West Goshen, Easttown, Lancaster Township, Montgomery Township, Upper Meeion,
Whitemarsh, Haverford, Cheltenham, Radner, Springfield, Lower Merion, Upper Moreland, Doylestown Borough, among others,

Statewide bans are also in place in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. A statewide ban has not been approved by the Pennsylvania legislature. The bans instead have been been instituted on the municipal level.

The Newtown Township Environmental Council (EAC) began working on a ban in 2018, but put the work on hold due to the pandemic.

Earlier this year the EAC proposed a draft ordinance and asked the five member board of supervisors to consider passage of the ordinance sometime this year.

The EAC proposed the ordinance as a way to curb litter on the streets, in the parks, and in the trees, protect the local streams, rivers, waterways and other aquatic environments, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce solid waste generation, promote the use of reusable, compostable, and recyclable materials within the township, and to preserve the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the township.