There are 25 towns in Maine that have enacted an ordinance that either bans single-use plastic bags or requires stores to charge for them. When, in 2019, the 129th Legislature voted to adopt LD 1532, it made Maine the fourth state to enact statewide limitations on the use of these bags. The law had wide support among Maine citizens. These bags are now banned in 10 states, and none has ever repealed the ban.

Maine’s plastic bag reduction policy was to take effect on, April 22, 2020, but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effective date was postponed until January 15, 2021. It was then delayed until July 1, 2021, to provide additional time for Maine’s businesses to comply.

As the NRCM notes:

• Plastic carry-out bags are the fourth most common type of plastic found in clean-ups across the nation.
• It’s estimated that the average American household collects about 1,500 single-use plastic bags per year at checkout—which is far more than could feasibly be reused at home.
• Less than 6% of plastic bags are recycled, and education programs aimed at trying to reduce the use or increase the recycling of plastic bags are not effective.
• Plastic bags are a primary source of contamination in Maine’s recycling programs and often tangle in recycling equipment, costing time, money, and other resources.

Recently, four separate bills were introduced in the legislature trying to repeal Maine’s ban entirely. On March 4, the Maine Conservation Voters reported that the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources had rejected these bills by a very solid 9-3 vote. This vote was largely achieved through an organized campaign of citizen testimony at public hearings, and letters to their legislators, and it is strong enough to make it very unlikely any of these will pass the legislature.

The time to begin active coordinated opposition to legislative bills is while they are still being considered by a committee. In the case of environmental bills, that’s the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Our local representatives are strong supporters of the ban on these bags, but others are not. All of our legislators will also need our strong support on other related topics in the coming weeks. You can search on https://legislature.maine.gov/house/, or https://legislature.maine.gov/senate to find your local representatives and their email addresses. You can also go to NRCM.org to see what the Natural Resources Council of Maine is doing about these topics, and how to support their efforts. We need to be doing both.

I expect we will be seeing some more calls for action in the coming weeks that will need the support of all of us who are serious about recycling and the climate changes it can help bring about. Please join me in those efforts.

The Recycle Bin is a weekly column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee.