Ordinance Banning Single-Use Plastic Bags Approved In Solebury

SOLEBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. - If you live or shop in Solebury Township, you better stock up on your reusable bags.

The board of supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve an ordinance banning single-use carry-out plastic bags, polystyrene food containers and single-use plastic straws in the township’s commercial establishments.

While instituting a ban on single-use plastics, the ordinance promotes the use of reusable bags and establishes a charge of 10 cents for certain types of acceptable bags at the point of sale.

“This has been carefully considered by the EAC (Environmental Advisory Council) over a long period of time. We have gone through a number of iterations and the recommendation was made to move this forward,” said Supervisor John Francis, the liaison to the EAC. “We looked at a lot of
consequences that this may bring up. We also compared the ordinance to others in neighboring towns and in New Jersey. We’re pretty confident that we have covered all the bases.”

The ordinance is aimed at encouraging consumers and commercial establishments within the township to help reduce the use and environmental impact of single-use plastics by promoting the use of reusable bags, utilizing alternatives to single-use plastic straws, training employees to ask customers first before providing a single-use plastic item, and substituting other biodegradable products for polystyrene food containers.

The ordinance is also aimed at reducing single-use plastic pollution in the local environment.

According to the ordinance, single-use plastic bags and containers have a negative impact on the natural environment and the community, pollute the environment, harm wildlife and natural landscapes, clog storm drains and drainage systems, and enter into the water system creating further damage to aquatic life and ecosystems.

Neither single-use plastic bags or polystyrene containers can be recycled. In the case of the plastic bags, the bags bind and clog sorting equipment and become an operational and financial burden on recycling facilities. The polystyrene containers do not biodegrade.

According to the ordinance, reusable bags are a readily available alternative to single-use carry-out plastic bags and are both cost effective and help to preserve the natural environment.

In addition, it says that alternatives to single-use plastic straws exist in the forms of reusable straws, recyclable paper straws and compostable straws that are cost effective.

There are some exceptions to the ordinance, including produce and product bags; laundry or dry-cleaner bags; bags used to contain a newspaper for home delivery; or any bags provided for use by a commercial establishment operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or a federal, Commonwealth, or local government agency.

According to township solicitor Mark Freed, the prohibition on single-use plastic bags will take effect in 90 days while the ban on food containers and straws begins in 180 days.

Establishments will be required to post signage educating customers that single-use carry-out plastic bags will no longer be provided; what types of bags and uses are impacted; and other information the township may require by regulation.

There is a provision in the ordinance that would allow the board of supervisors to exempt a business for up to a year if the new law is causing an undue hardship on the establishment.

The board, however, may only make a finding of undue hardship if the establishment has a unique circumstance or situation such that there are no reasonable alternatives to single-use carry-out plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, or polystyrene food containers; compliance would deprive an establishment of a legally protected right; or that additional time is necessary in order to draw down an existing inventory of single-use carry-out plastic bags, single-use plastic straws, or polystyrene food containers.