2012-02-09 – Caller.com – Littering the landscape with plastic shopping bags is indeed a problem. The proposed solution—banning them—doesn't address the problem at its source, which is the people doing the littering. A bag ban only removes bags from their arsenal, much like a ban on so-called "assault" rifles can change the cosmetics of a law-abiding gun owner's home arsenal. More »
2012-02-08 – Mukilteobeacon.com – The city won't require grocery stores to nickel and dime you if you shop in Mukilteo and use a paper bag instead of a reusable bag next year. Mukilteo City Council on Monday voted unanimously to change the city's plastic bag ban so that the law won't require retailers to charge shoppers 5 cents for each bag they use. More »
2012-02-08 – The Orange County Register – Residents in Dana Point and Laguna Beach should be offended by their respective city councils' votes Tuesday passing similar ordinances banning single-use plastic bags. The two coastal towns become the first Orange County cities to prohibit retailers from providing the bags to customers, a terrible policy pushed by activists and naively accepted by city officials. More »
2012-01-19 – JunkScience.com – A small but increasing number of cities are in a frenzy to ban plastic shopping bags. More than two dozen cities nationwide have either banned plastic grocery bags (and in some cases, paper bags) entirely, or have imposed a fee for using them in order to encourage the use of reusable bags. However, such policies have hidden costs few seem to recognize. More »
2012-01-11 – Texas Watchdog – City of Austin officials wildly inflated the volume of plastic bags in Austin's litter stream and the cost to dispose of them, based on a misreading of a key report cited by the officials, one of the authors of the report told Texas Watchdog this afternoon. More »
2012-01-10 – I led the design of and was project manager for Keep America Beautiful's 2009 National Litter Study. I read your Plastic Bag Cost Findings and Clarifications memorandum, dated January 12, 2011, and would like to call to your attention misused data from our study. More »
2012-01-04 – AmericanThinker.com – Montgomery County, Maryland is the latest locality to impose a 5-cent tax on shoppers or restaurant-goers who need a plastic bag to take their purchases home. Next door, Washington, D.C. imposed such a tax already; environmentalists are pushing localities everywhere to do the same. More »
2011-12-22 – GreenBiz.com – Pity the much-maligned plastic bag. Plastic bags are being banned or taxed in cities and counties across America -- just this week in Seattle, before that in San Francisco, Portland and Washington, D.C. More »
2011-12-22 – Yesterday afternoon, legislators in Seattle voted to ban and tax grocery bags for consumers, city-wide. As Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental Policy at Hilex Poly, an American manufacturer and recycler of plastic bags, I understand the real benefits of plastic bag recycling and how grocery bag bans and taxes are the wrong choice for consumers. More »
2011-12-20 – Seattle, Wash. – The Seattle City Council voted today to impose a ban on plastic bags, a move that ironically pushes consumers toward more resource-intensive alternatives. The ordinance, which will take effect July 2012, bans plastic grocery bags and places a five-cent tax on paper bags, monies that will go back to retailers. More »
2011-12-15 – RedState.com – As CEO of one of the largest U.S. plastic bag manufacturing and recycling companies, my priorities are to create good jobs for the American workforce, grow the company and provide return to investors. But this American industry has been under attack by ideologically-driven proponents of plastic bag bans and taxes, providing a case study of misguided regulations that cost jobs and produce no benefits. More »
2011-12-15 – Statesman.com – Many years ago, I was advised to be wary of an idea that "sounds real good when you say it real fast," for a bit of reflection might reveal unintended consequences. The proposed Austin bag ban is one prime example. More »
2011-12-08 – Glenwood Springs Post Independent – Three citizens have petitioned the town government to reverse its ban on plastic shopping bags in local grocery stores. And if the board of trustees declines to undo the ban, the issue will go to the voters in the April 3 town election, according to Town Clerk Cathy Derby. Derby said petitions containing 195 signatures were submitted Monday by bag-ban opponents Mary Boucher, Lyndsey Sackett and Michelle Hyken. More »
2011-11-30 – Idaho Mountain Express – I am as local, non-corporate a business as you can get. Yes, corporate America's greed has impacted our environment negatively. But we will not recover without their awareness and help. Hilex Poly may be corporate, but if you choose to not learn their story, are you really savvy to the options? I get asked every day where are our hats "made"? Proudly, right here. Where is the hat on your head made? Do you know? Do you care? Did you do the math? More »
2011-11-29 – Trib Local: Highland Park/Highwood – Highland Park has approved a new law that requires large retailers to provide plastic bag recycling receptacles. The law applies to retailers that have at least 10,000 square feet of space and use plastic bags. These retailers must provide clearly marked receptacles near their entrances and exits for plastic bags or other thin plastic products such as dry-cleaning plastic wraps. More »
2011-11-11 – Manufacturing Today – It's not as weighty a question as "To be or not to be?" but "Paper or plastic?" might be just as frequently debated as any philosophical question in the modern day. For South Carolina-based Hilex Poly Co., however, the choice is clear. As one of the world's largest recyclers of plastic shopping bags, Hilex Poly argues that plastic bags are the more eco–friendly choice over paper. More »
2011-11-09 – KTVB.com – Hailey voters have rejected a proposed ban on plastic grocery bags. The measure was defeated Tuesday by a 56-44 percent margin. More »
2011-11-07 – Flash Report – With inflation eating away at Californians' buying power, going to the grocery store has become an increasingly expensive activity for the average family. But in their quest to create an environmentally-friendly utopia, California liberals don¿t seem to care that families are struggling to pay those hefty grocery bills. The most blatant example of this insensitivity is the imposition of a new grocery bag tax. More »
2011-11-02 – Chicago Tribune – As a responsible dog owner, I repurpose nearly all of these bags – they come mostly from the grocery store – in the time-honored way for which they are exquisitely designed. When we have any left over, we reuse them to pack lunches or transport wet clothes. In fact, I find them so useful that I sometimes ask store employees to double-bag items that could probably be carried in a single bag. More »
2011-11-02 – Idaho Mountain Express – While figuring out how to live with less damage to our land, water and air is a worthwhile endeavor, the move to ban plastic grocery bags will have consequences that will defeat its purpose. More »
2011-11-01 – Washington City Paper – Over the last few months, Safeway has tried to combat shoplifting at several D.C. stores by stopping customers to check their receipts at the door. But it hadn't explained exactly why, until Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B inquired why that was happening at the store on 17th and Corcoran Street. More »
2011-10-25 – kxan.com – More than seven of 10 Austin residents support alternatives to an outright ban on allowing stores to provide plastic bags for shoppers, as learned in a poll done by the Texas Retailers Association released Tuesday. "Hopefully the Austin City Council will see these poll results for what they are – the voice of the people they represent," said Ronnie Volkening, the organization's president. More »
2011-10-20 – tbnewswatch.com – The town of Sioux Lookout has decided to repeal its controversial ban on plastic shopping bags. More »
2011-10-08 – Timesnews.net – You too can help make a park bench at Bays Mountain. In case you're hip deep in grocery or other plastic store bags and don't know what to do with them Bays Mountain Park will gladly take them off your hands. The park has recently launched a "Bags to Benches" initiative where patrons can drop off used (but clean) plastic bags. For every 10,000 bags collected, the park receives one free composite wood bench. More »
2011-10-06 – The news is in from Juneau: on October 4, voters overwhelmingly defeated a 15-cent tax on plastic grocery bags. Thousands of people went to the polls, and nearly 70% of them said no to unfair, short-sighted taxes on a product they use every day. More »
2011-10-05 – Juneau Empire – One measure Juneau voters defeated was a proposal to charge a tax of 15 cents on any plastic bag provided by certain retailers. Nearly 70 percent of ballots came back marked "no" on that measure. If passed, the measure would have only applied to retailers that generate more than $15 million in revenue, such as Fred Meyer or Walmart. More »
2011-09-30 – The Orange County Register – The Huntington Beach City Council is scheduled Monday to consider taking the next step in potentially banning the sale and use of plastic grocery bags. As we have editorialized, such a policy is invasive and overreaching, but as Monday's meeting will illustrate it is also costly to the city because the city will have to invest nearly $40,000 to study the ban's environmental impacts. More »
2011-09-22 – RedState – Believe it or not, there's been a war going on over plastic bags for some time now. It seems that manufacturers of those reusable bags you see near the checkout line were none too pleased that so many people were continuing to choose plastic or paper bags as opposed to shelling out $20 bucks for their environmental solution. More »
2011-09-22 – HumanEvents – Ben Howe at Red State brings us news of a shadowy war that has been fought beneath our noses, at the checkout lines of our local supermarkets. More »
2011-09-20 – Americans for Tax Reform – In the debate over plastic bags, consumers score a victory over the nanny statists that aim to spread misinformation to implement unnecessary taxes and bans. More »
2011-09-16 – Activists who have sought to ban or tax plastic bags -- and those who seek to profit off of them -- have based their arguments on inaccurate data and misleading statements. Repeated over time, many of these points have mistakenly been taken for fact. Unfortunately, this misinformation has led municipalities to consider or pass misguided laws that are anti-fact and anti-science. More »
2011-09-13 – Hartsville, S.C. – Hilex Poly Company LLC, a leading manufacturer and recycler of plastic bags, films and wraps, and ChicoBag reached a settlement agreement resolving a lawsuit in which Hilex Poly contended that ChicoBag was making false marketing claims. The agreement resulted in an undisclosed settlement payment to Hilex Poly. More »
2011-08-28 – San Jose Mercury News – It was a little-noticed line item in San Jose's skimpier-by-the-minute city budget. As municipal bean-counters reluctantly pared everything from cops to travel accounts, they stumbled onto a $60,000 expense that Rosalena Garrett and her German shepherd, Baybee, learned about the hard way. More »
2011-08-11 – Downey Patriot – When we realized that cars were polluting and harming the environment, we didn't ban the cars, we passed a piece of legislation to force the automakers to install pollution control systems to minimize the negative impact on the environment. More »
2011-08-04 – Huffington Post – Plastic bag recycling has caught some attention in recent months as the ongoing discussion of plastic bag legislation has become a highly debated topic. More »
2011-07-14 – Huffington Post – Environmentalists are often attacked from the political right for favoring too much regulation even though most Americans agree with their larger objectives. Given these attacks from the right it behooves those of us who want to clean up the air and water to think carefully before pushing regulatory initiatives that are not clearly beneficial. So today's question is will bans on plastic grocery bags really improve the environment? More »
2011-07-03 – The Honolulu Star Advertiser – At Kmart in Lihue, the cashiers are still apologizing with every transaction: "Sorry. We don't have bags. Sorry, yeah? No more bags." At Longs Kukui Grove, purchases are placed in brown paper bags labeled RECYCLEABLE in big, almost defensive letters, as if to say "Yeah, it's a bag, but it's not a BAD bag." More »
2011-06-29 – The Ventura County Star – NEXs worldwide have a new type of plastic bag now being used for customer purchases. The new bag is made with at least 35 percent recycled material. Unlike the previous NEX plastic bags which were white, the new recycled bags have a grey body color based upon the high level of recycled material used in its production. More »
2011-06-28 – San Antonio Express-News – The city of San Antonio is partnering with five area retailers, HEB, JCPenney, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, and Keep San Antonio Beautiful and the Texas Retailers Association for the "Change Is In The Bag" campaign. More »
2011-06-25 – Navy Times – Recently, the Navy Exchange made a sound, environmental decision in how it purchases and disposes of plastic bags. It wants to keep [bags] available to service personnel while also being smarter about its footprint. More »
2011-06-22 – Plastics News – Kroger Co. recycled more than 1.2 billion pounds of corrugated cardboard and paper last year, according to the company's fifth sustainability report. In addition, Cincinnati-based Kroger and its customers recycled 26 million pounds of plastic—an 180 percent increase in plastic recycling since 2007. More »
2011-06-15 – CNN – More and more of us are trying to live greener. We buy organic, we recycle. We even are being encouraged to use our own bags when we shop. It's all an effort to avoid waste and save the planet. But now, one of those planet saving efforts apparently comes with its own set of problems. Those reusable bags, if not handled correctly, might actually cause consumers harm. More »
2011-06-10 – Oregonian – The backers of a bill to ban plastic bags have given up this legislative session. Senate Bill 536 stalled without even a floor vote in the Senate, in the face of strong opposition by the plastics lobby. The bill as written would have prohibited single-use plastic bags at checkout from pharmacies and supermarkets. More »
2011-06-05 – Daily Camera – A small group of well-meaning children have been quite busy lately. Some want Boulder's City Council to ban or place a fee on the use of the ubiquitous plastic bags used in grocery stores and shopping centers. The entire effort might become a teachable moment for these youngsters that could unearth a comprehensive examination of many simplistic environmental myths. More »
2011-05-26 – Democrat Herald – The plastic bag ban ought to be defeated and forgotten. Nobody is forced to take one at the store. People who accept them often use them again, usually as trash bags. So the latest compromise proposal is not much better than the ban. More »
2011-05-26 – KGUN-TV – Many people are switching to reusable grocery bags because they're better for the planet. But could going green actually make you sick? More »
2011-05-25 – TBD.com – It's been nearly 18 months since the District started enforcing its controversial bag tax, requiring a five-cent fee for each paper or plastic bag provided to customers. Since the law began, a "secret shopper" has randomly inspected businesses to see if they're charging that fee. And 38 percent of them are not. More »
2011-05-17 – Philadelphia Tribune – Local and state governments are just like the federal government. They want to keep their largesse ways and not face the demand for austerity and good fiscal management. When times get tight they seek to get into your pockets via obscene taxation on any and everything they can find. More »
2011-05-13 – Flash Report – For those lovers of liberty and freedom in Long Beach, I have some bad news for you. This coming Tuesday, your city council is looking to pass a city-wide plastic grocery bag ban and tax ordinance that is identical to the one passed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last November. More »
2011-05-09 – The Maryland Public Policy Institute – Is a "bag tax" coming to Maryland? The state taxes pretty much everything else, so it seems likely legislators will eventually get around to imposing a tax on plastic grocery bags. DC and Montgomery County are already doing it, and you know that if these jurisdictions have a bad idea, it's going to spread to the rest of Maryland soon. More »
2011-05-08 – Mother Nature Network – As we accumulate more reusable bags, many of them go unused. Reusable bags are creating their own environmental problems. What's the answer? More »
2011-05-08 – Washington Examiner – Last week, the Montgomery County Council approved a nickel grocery bag tax. The stated goals of the tax are to raise revenue and curb the use of plastic grocery bags. The bags, the county says, are an environmental hazard. Instead, county officials say they want to encourage Montgomery County shoppers to use reusable bags. More »
2011-05-02 – Lexington Herald-Leader – The environmentalist mantra used to be the three Rs: "reduce, reuse, recycle." When it comes to plastic bags, however, the only R legislators and activists seem interested in doing is "reducing consumer choice." Oh, and maybe an F, for "Forcing consumers to use fabric-like reusable bags." More »
2011-04-28 – The Foundry – Paper or plastic? How about neither? If you live in Evanston, Ill., be prepared to kiss your plastic bags goodbye . . . and maybe your paper ones, too. Some in the city council are prepared to take a stand against what some see as a terribly pernicious threat to the environment. More »
2011-04-26 – Oregonian – A bill that would ban most single-use checkout plastic bags in Oregon is once again stalled in committee. More »
2011-04-23 – Democrat Herald – Oregon used to be a friendly place, fairly relaxed about what it allowed people to do. Live and let live was the unspoken motto. Not any more. More »
2011-04-19 – Oregonian – An editorial last week in The Oregonian concludes that the Legislature has a choice: Adopt a flawed bill that bans plastic grocery bags and imposes new fees on Oregon shoppers or do nothing at all to reduce plastic litter. That's a false choice. More »
2011-04-18 – Reason Foundation – Environmentally conscious consumers that have caught the reusable bag bug might be getting more than they bargained for. A University of Arizona study published last year found that reusable plastic bags may be just as good as carrying around harmful bacteria as groceries. More »
2011-04-12 – Reason Foundation – Washington, D.C.'s first-in-the-nation tax on plastic bags has spawned a wave of eco-enthusiasm that's seen 64 similar measures across the country in 2011 alone. More »
2011-04-07 – Earth & Industry – Hilex Poly is working hard to develop a recycling stream that will change the way you think and feel about about plastic bags. More »
2011-03-29 – National Review – Before they came for our light bulbs, they targeted our plastic bags. And they're still after them. It all began in 2002, when Ireland enacted a plastic-bag tax for the clearly stated purpose of lowering the amount of litter in the country. The fact that it would also raise tax revenue was an added bonus. More »
2011-03-29 – Center Maryland – Some members of the Maryland General Assembly think a 5 cent tax on every paper and plastic bag sold will eliminate their use while "beautifying the Bay." While I whole heartedly support efforts to clean up the bay, this tax troubles me deeply. More »
2011-03-24 – Center Maryland – We're in the throes of another end to a legislative session. Unfortunately, an end to unemployment or this stagnant economy is not as near in sight. I'm not a person to normally engage in politics. I'm simply a local plant manager for Advance Polybag, Inc., a grocery bag manufacturer in Elkridge. I'm also a resident of Maryland. More »
2011-03-18 – Washington Post – If I believed taxing carryout bags in Montgomery County would improve local water quality and protect our waterways, I would be the first to sign on. But the five-cent tax on both paper and plastic bags proposed by County Executive Ike Leggett won't save the Chesapeake Bay. More »
2011-03-05 – Albany Times Union – If Assemblyman Micah Kellner has his way, someone carrying a plastic bag full of groceries would get the same disdainful looks that might be directed at a pregnant lady smoking, or someone walking away from the stinky contribution their pooch has made to a New York City sidewalk. More »
2011-02-20 – Bluefield Daily Telegraph – A McDowell County delegate believes now is not the right time to introduce a piece of legislation regarding a tax on plastic shopping bags he currently co-sponsors. West Virginia House Bill 2136 or the Plastic Shopping Bag Excise Tax would require grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores to pay a 5-cent tax on every plastic shopping bag they provided to customers. More »
2011-02-20 – Middletown Press – A bill aimed at discouraging the use of plastic grocery bags has been bagged. "I don't think I have been associated with a bill that has generated as much opposition as this one," state Sen. Edward Meyer, co-chairman of the Environment Committee, said Friday. The proposal was to charge a nickel for each plastic bag in order to encourage consumers to bring reusable bags to retail establishments. More »
2011-02-19 – RVA News – A House committee on Wednesday tabled a bill to ban flimsy plastic shopping bags in Virginia. On a voice vote, the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee tabled House Bill 1498, which would have prohibited retailers from providing customers with thin plastic carryout bags. More »
2011-02-17 – Oregonian – The current controversy over paper vs. plastic bags at the checkout stand offers a curious set of comparisons, and it puts a company such as ours in the middle of the sustainability debate. More »
2011-02-15 – KXAN – Tuesday a website called "A Bag's Life" was launched at the state Capitol by a dozen retailers from more than 2,000 stores statewide. "Even in the rural areas people are going to have an opportunity to collect plastic and reuse it or recycle it," said Buddy Garcia of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. More »
2011-02-10 – New Haven Independent – During an Environment Committee public hearing Wednesday Representative Len Greene (R-105) said he opposes adding another new tax on hard-working residents only trying to bring food home to their families. More »
2011-02-09 – Center for Consumer Freedom – Big-government bureaucrats are already facing an uphill battle trying to convince cost-conscious consumers to give up their plastic bags or pay extra taxes. Now two studies reveal why America's green bag revolution may have some unintended consequences. More »
2011-02-09 – Baltimore Sun – While Maryland state lawmakers consider instituting a five-cent fee on plastic bags, you should consider this: Those polypropylene bags that will replace them are likely to bring dangerous bacteria like E. coli in contact with your food. More »
2011-02-04 – The Gazette – A proposal to charge consumers for plastic bags at grocery stores will hurt retailers, says Patrick Donoho, president of the Maryland Retailers Association. On Thursday, there will be a panel discussion on the proposal coordinated by the environmental group Trash Free Maryland Alliance in the House Office Building. More »
2011-02-04 – Los Angeles Times – The Santa Monica City Council approved an ordinance Jan. 25 prohibiting the distribution of single-use plastic carryout bags for most purposes. This will significantly affect the city's four certified farmers markets when it takes effect Sept. 1, but vendors and customers are just beginning to understand the ramifications. More »
2011-02-02 – Washington Examiner – A new report finds the bag tax that Washingtonians have been paying for more than a year now to be a job-killer and economic loser. The study, commissioned by Americans for Tax Reform and conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute, examines the economic fallout of the D.C. bag tax. More »
2011-01-25 – San Francisco Chronicle – First the choice was paper or plastic. Then paper or reusable. Now, it seems, the answer to the great grocery bag question is none of the above. Two separate studies have found elevated lead levels in reusable bags sold at major grocery and drugstore chains, further muddying the debate over the environmental, economic and public health impacts of the totes used by millions. More »
2011-01-23 – USA Today – Twenty-one reusable bags sold as alternatives to disposable bags had dangerous levels of lead, according to new test results to be released today. More »
2009-02-18 – Discovery Channel – Even for the most die-hard reusable bag carrier, plastic bags have a way of sneaking into your house--holding loaves of bread, hidden in cereal boxes, on those days you forget your tote at the supermarket, from the clothing stores at the mall. And once you let one in, they multiply like crazy; they're nearly impossible to contain. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? The reuse potential of plastic bags is practically endless More »
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