Plastic Bag Ban
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About 60 of 351 MA cities and towns have shopping bag laws, banning to a varying degree or taxing plastic bags or non-reusable shopping bags. A quick breakdown is available at BagLaws.com, a web site designed to help retailers comply with shopping bag laws. State legislation has also been proposed. Town-by-town legislative details can be found at MassGreen.org, an advocacy organization that favors plastic bag bans.
Surrounding towns with shopping bag laws include:
- Arlington (to go in effect 4/26/17)
- Bedford (to go in effect 3/25/17)
- Boston (to go in effect 11/29/17)
- Brookline (since 2012)
- Cambridge (since 2015)
- Wellesley (since 2016)
Arguments pro and contra can be found in the News & Editorials below.
Lexington waste, recycling, trash
About an equal quantity of waste and of recycling are discarded in Lexington curbside, along with yard waste. The Town maintains a recycling and yard waste collection point on Hartwell Ave.
Waste is trucked to the Wheelabrator North Andover incinerator. After incineration, the volume of trash is reduced by 2/3, and becomes ash that is transported to a monofill. Current monofills exist in Shrewsbury, Saugus, Peabody.
The Andover plant processes 1,500 tons of trash a day, and has an energy generation capacity of 40MW.
Thin film is sometimes discarded in the recycling bins, but is considered a contaminant for recycling. Residents should discard thin film plastic with the trash.
Lexington Reports
None as of 2/4/18.
Massachusetts Reports
State legislation is pending.
National & International Reports
- Nature: Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic, by L. Lebreton et. al. (Mar 22, 2018)
- Science Advances: Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made, by Roland Geyer et. al. (July 19, 2017)
- Environmental Effects of the Single Use Bag Ordinance in Austin, Texas (2015)
- Berkeley Science Review: Will California’s plastic bag ban help the environment?, by Erika Anderson (Apr 2017)
- The Telegraph: Plastic bag charge: the unintended consequences of the 5p deterrent, by Peter Spence (Oct 5, 2015)
News & Editorials
2017
- Boston Globe: Mayor Walsh signs ban on plastic bags for Boston, by John Hilliard and J.D. Capelouto (Dec 17, 2017)
- Boston Globe: Will that be paper... or a 5-cent compostable plastic bag?, by Natasha Mascarenhas (Dec 1, 2017)
- Boston Globe: The Argument: Should Needham ban the retail use of plastic bags? (Dec 15, 2017)
- Yes: Robert Fernandez, Plastic Bag Ban Team chair, Green Needham Collaborative
- No: Brian Houghton, Senior vice president, Massachusetts Food Association
- Boston Globe: Boston is close to banning plastic bags at stores, by Milton J. Valencia (Nov 29, 2017)
- Boston Globe: Boston City Council set to vote on plastic bag ban, by Milton J. Valencia (Nov 28, 2017)
2015
- Boston Globe: Newton’s plastic bag ban takes effect, by Ellen Ishkanian (July 28, 2015)
- Boston Globe: Newton aldermen pass plastic bag ban, by Ellen Ishkanian (Jan 25, 2015)
Advocacy
- APBA - American Progressive Bag Alliance
- MassGreen.org