Saturday, February 1, 2020

ABOUT THAT PLASTIC BAG BAN---NY SAYS WEGMANS, OTHERS MUST ALLOW OLD PLASTIC BAGS IN STORES FOR REUSE

NY says Wegmans, others must allow old plastic bags in stores for reuse==Syracuse, N.Y. — Stores must allow shoppers to bring in their old, saved plastic bags for use at checkout after the state’s plastic bag ban goes into effect. The question of whether that would be allowed under the new law was one of the most frequent we heard when we asked you for your questions on the bag ban. The state Department of Environmental Conservation weighed in on the topic in a statement on Thursday. The ban, known officially as the Bag Waste Reduction Act, says stores are not allowed to prevent anyone from using a bag of any kind that they bring in to carry away goods, according to the DEC.  READ MORE AT https://www.syracuse.com/state/2020/01/ny-says-wegmans-others-must-allow-old-plastic-bags-in-stores-for-reuse.html

5 comments:

  1. You can buy these bags by the box at restaurant supply stores and online. They run about 2 cents each, and less if you buy in quantity. You can use a fresh clean bag at the supermarket and then use the old bag for garbage. This is often cheaper than using tote bags for groceries and then buying Hefty bags for your garbage.

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  2. Thanks. A couple of the local businesses are selling us their inventory or ordering big batches for their customers as a courtesy but this is good to know.

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  3. We moved here almost 2 years ago from Suffolk County in LI, where single use plastic bags were no longer available for free but can purchase for 5 cents per bag when shopping. Does this ban imply that you can't even buy the bag at all? What if you have nothing to carry out your items? On a separate note, I bring tote bags 90% of the time and I purposely take plastic bags 10% of the time to use as my garbage bags.

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    1. It is a mess and there is much confusion. On another note, we have heard that residents are being advised to bring their own plastic containers to restaurants to take home their leftovers. A restaurant owner has said they will not allow this for reasons of cross-contamination. They know what is in their kitchen, not yours.

      Also there is quite a bit of question about just how safe re-usable bags are if they are not washed regularly. And if they are indeed washed regularly, doesn't that bring its own environmental costs and issues?

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  4. Supermarkets are banned from giving away the platic bags currently used. Nor can they sell them for a fee such as in Suffolk. Paper bags are allowed but cities and counties can impose a five cent fee, which Westchester County will presumably do. Merchants are not required to sell paper bags. NYS Dept. of Enviro Conservation has detailed rules on their website.

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