Gary McLachlan patiently waited for his groceries to be loaded into a reusable bag at the Vancouver Grocery Outlet at 5800 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd.
McLachlan was vaguely aware the Legislature is considering a ban on nearly all plastic bags at retail outlets. It’s a ban that could disrupt the lives of shoppers who’ve grown accustomed to plastic over paper to carry home their food.
But not McLachlan. That’s because Grocery Outlet on its own switched over to reusable or paper bags or even cardboard boxes a few weeks ago. Besides, McLachlan thinks getting rid of plastic bags is a good idea.
“I know plastic is hard to get rid of,” said McLachlan, 67, of Vancouver. “Anything we can do to preserve the environment.”
The proposed plastic bag ban passed in the Senate two weeks ago and awaits action in the House. In the 31-14 Senate vote, among legislators whose district includes all or part of Clark County, Sens. Curtis King, R-Yakima; Ann Rivers, R-La Center; and Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, voted in favor and Sens. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, and John Braun, R-Centralia, voted against.
The proposal would ban single-use plastic carryout bags and require retailers to charge for recycled or reusable bags. Bags available inside stores for things like fruits and vegetables, bulk foods and loose parts like hardware pieces would be exempt. The Legislature has considered a ban as early as 2013.
Stores would have until 2020 to use up existing stocks, and would be required to charge 8 cents for other bags handed out. That bag charge would be imposed to encourage the use of reusable bags, Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent, said on Monday. Das, the lead Senate sponsor of the bag ban bill, presented SB 5323 to the House Environment & Energy Committee.
First proposed in 2013
Passage by the Senate marks a high-water mark for the idea of statewide regulations aimed at limiting bags. Lawmakers proposed a ban as early as 2013 and a tax on single-use bags the same year, but neither were even put up for votes in legislative committees controlled at the time by Republicans, The Associated Press reported.
Ten lawmakers added their names to this year’s proposal, compared with only two in 2013, the AP reported.
Beyond banning single-use plastic bags, the bill would require recycled paper bags to have at least 40 percent recycled material. Compostable carryout bags would be included in the ban, but in-store compostable plastic bags would be allowed for the same exempt purposes.
If the measure passes, businesses will have a year to use up their existing supplies of disposable bags before facing a $250 fine per violation.
At least three industry representatives testified Monday before the House Environment & Energy Committee.
Todd Myers, director of the Center for the Environment at the Washington Policy Center, said the bill was well-intended but would not achieve the goals it sought, calling it “a cure that is worse than the disease.”
“You have to look at the trade-offs,” Myers said. “Reusable bags are far more environmentally damaging than the ones they replace.” Myers also said elimination of one-time use plastic bags “would have a very small impact on plastic pollution.”
Bill Stauffacher, representing the American Forest & Paper Association, said his client is opposed to the bill. He said experience shows that paper bag usage does not increase when plastic bags are banned. He also said the association views proposals like the one before the Legislature as profit centers for the grocers because of the 8 cent fee that would be collected.
‘One standard’
However, grocers typically spend 7 cents for each of their paper bags dispensed, said Holly Chisa, representing the Northwest Grocery Association. “This is not a profit maker for us,” she said.
Chisa said the association supports the bill, in part because it would provide a statewide standard. Committee members heard earlier that 27 local ordinances in Washington already govern plastic bag bans of their own.
“This bill provides one standard,” said Chisa, whose association represents Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway, Costco, Haggen and other grocery stores.
A well-known Clark County grocer, Chuck’s Produce, already uses paper exclusively at the check-out lanes, said Larry Maresh, manager of the store at 13215 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd.
A spokesperson for Walmart said the chain “is aware of the legislation and will be ready to comply with any new laws.”
Grocery Outlet on Fourth Plain Boulevard planned its own plastic ban for at least a year before debate on the current ban commenced in the Legislature, co-owner Ken Cole said.
“It worked out well for us because customers are hearing what the Legislature is talking about,” Cole said.
Customers for the most part have been supportive, Cole said.
“Occasionally we’ll hear, ‘Why are you doing this, because we really like the plastic bags,'” Cole said. “But we’ll have 20 to 25 people say, ‘I’m shopping here now because you guys are doing this.'”
Co-owner Carlos A. Rodriguez Vega already was familiar with the plastic bag-free life after having managed a Grocery Outlet on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland, where plastic bags are banned.
The store told customers for nearly two months the ban on single-use plastic bags was coming, starting March 1.
“We decided this is the right thing to do,” Rodriguez Vega said. “We’ve been composting our produce. We recycle our cardboard. We recycle all of our packaging plastic … we just changed to LEDs throughout the store. So, society is moving toward a more sustainable way of living. We had to be part of it. We just decided, hey, this is the right thing to do.”
