Hawaii is on its way to become the first state to ban single-use plastic bags, the kind commonly used by customers to transport groceries. Beginning January 17, 2014, such bags will be prohibited throughout Hawaii’s most populous counties, with the exception of Oahu, where a ban has passed but won’t go into effect until 2015.
Plastic bags commonly found in grocery stores have banned in Hawaii for environmental reasons. Photo: via Wikimedia Commons.
The County of Hawaii Department of Environmental Management states on its website that the aim of the law is to reduce harm caused to marine life and birds choked or entangled by plastic bags, and to minimize litter, landfill waste, and exposure to unsafe chemicals that may be caused by degradation of plastic bags. Read the full ordinance here.
The environmentalist Surfrider Foundation told The Huffington Post that the ban was not initiated as state-wide legislation, but rather was individually adopted by each of Hawaii’s county councils.
Hawaiian grocers and other retailers have been required to charge customers a fee for plastic bags since January 17th of 2013. Now they won’t be allowed to provide them at all (except on a limited basis for bulk items such as grains, nuts, fresh produce and meats, some hardware items and drugs—but these bags must be “without handles”).
Under the new law, customers may still use store-provided paper bags or bring their own “reusable bags” which the ordinance defines as bags that are “specifically designed and manufactured for multiple re-use and is (1) made of cloth or other machine washable fabric or (2) made of paper specifically designed for multiple and long-term use.” The law exempts 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations from the ban and also allows for “businesses to make plastic checkout bags available for purchase” (again) one calendar year after its effective date.
Violators of the ordinance may be subject to civil fines ranging from $250 per day for the second notice of violation to $500 per day for the third and $1,000 per day for subsequent offenses. Further, Section 13.11 of the Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance Administrative Rules states that “The enforcement provisions of this chapter are in addition to remedies provided by the Hawai’i [sic] County Code and other law, and do not preclude other civil or criminal penalties or injunctive relief.”
While Hawaii is the first to have state-wide legislation prohibiting plastic bags, other jurisdictions are implementing similar measures. As reported by the LA Times, the City of Los Angeles has already imposed a ban on plastic bags for big retailers, which will be extended to smaller businesses, including food markets and liquor stores, in July 2014. LA’s policy requires that shoppers supply their own reusable bags or pay ten cents per paper bag provided by stores. Los Angeles is the nation’s largest city to enact such a ban; 90 other California municipalities and counties have set similar local policies.
