North Royalton City Council introduced legislation at its December 3 meeting that would negate the plastic bag ban that was adopted by Cuyahoga County in May. If passed, North Royalton would join other cities in the county, including Brooklyn. The city of North Olmsted also recently introduced legislation.
The legislation, introduced by Mayor Bob Stefanik, states the following:
“No retail establishment shall offer customers disposable plastic bags unless:
(a) it provides a disposable plastic bag collection bin that is visible, easily accessible to the customer, and clearly marked that the collection bin is available for the purpose of collecting and recycling disposable plastic bags; and
(b) the retail establishment ensures all disposable plastic bags collected by the retail establishment are collected, transported and recycled, and not deposited within a solid waste disposal facility, except for disposable plastic bags that are not sufficiently free of foreign material to enter the recycling stream.
879.03 PENALTY.
Whoever violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Each day’s continued violation shall constitute a separate offense.”
A retail establishment is any supermarket, department store, convenience store, service station, shop, or restaurant, or any other sales outlet of 30,000 or more where a consumer can purchase goods or food.
When asked about this legislation, Stefanik said that “the legislation came from the lack of action and information from Cuyahoga County and the state legislature. We were getting phone calls from local business from the lack of information.”
Members of the Cuyahoga County Council approved their ban on disposable plastic shopping bags at their May 28 Council meeting, after the legislation was amended that will extend the time for when the measure will be enacted. The legislation was introduced by County Council members District 11 Sunny M. Simon and District 2 Dale Miller on April 9.
The original legislation had the start date as October 1, 2019, but was changed to January 1, 2020 to allow those retail establishments time to prepare for and adjust to the change. That date has again changed to July 1, 2020, providing for a six month grace period for retailers to work with bag vendors and allows for time for consumers to get used to the idea of bringing their own shopping bags.
“It’s been nothing but confusion between the state and county and our local businesses are left to wonder which way this thing is going to go.” Earlier this year, there was discussion among state representatives to bring about their own legislation, that could override the county legislation. That did not happen. “I think that the state is going do something about this,” said Stefanik. “The problem is that they waited until the last minute to do something. They need to decide exactly what they are going to do rather quickly, and not wait until June 15 to think about it.”
The county legislation noted that the disposable plastic bags that have been discarded are a major source of litter and imposes cleanup, removal and processing costs on communities. The legislation was written to discourage the wasteful use of the bags. The legislation also references China’s “National Sword” policy, which prohibits the acceptance of twenty four types of recycled waste, including the disposable plastic bags. By doing this, it has diminished the market for these bags.
The definition of disposal plastic bag is one that is made of plastic and provided by a retail establishment at a point of sale for the purpose of transporting items purchased. It goes on to state, however that “Disposable Plastic Bag does not include:
1. a bag the customer brought with them to the Retail Establishment,
2. a newspaper bag,
3. a bag provided by a pharmacist that contains a prescription drug,
4. a bag used to package a bulk item or to contain or wrap a perishable item such as
meat, fish, produce, baked goods, or flowers,
5. a bag that a restaurant gives a customer to take prepared or leftover food or drink
from the restaurant,
6. a bag intended for use as a dry cleaning, garbage, or yard waste bag,
7. pre-packaged bags used for the collection of pet waste,
8. Non-Permitted Paper Bags and Permitted Paper Bags, as defined in this Chapter,
9. Bags provided to the consumer for the purpose of transporting a partially
consumed bottle of wine pursuant to Section 4301.62(E) of the Ohio Revised
Code, or
10. a bag provided at curbside pickup or point of delivery.”
Bags for hazardous materials, such as chemicals purchased, were also added to the list upon amendment.
If the city or state legislation is not enacted and the county law stands, starting on July 1, 2020, retailers can only offer a reusable bag at the point of sale to transport goods. They shall not refuse customers to bring and use their own reusable bags and shall encourage them to bring their own reusable bags. These retailers will not require their customers to use the retailers disposable bags, nor be charged a fee for the use of reusable bags. Any retail establishment that violates the law would be subject to a written warning for the first violation, a fine of up to $100 for a second violation and a fine of up to $500 for each subsequent violation. The measure will be enforced by the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs.
The city’s legislation was introduced on December 3 and placed on second reading for further discussion.
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer