Plastic Bags Could be Banned in Wellesley by 2017

WELLESLEY, MA - The days of Wellesley residents bringing home armfuls of groceries in plastic bags could be a thing of the past.

The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission is following in the footsteps of 18 communities in the Commonwealth and proposing a bylaw banning the distribution of single-use plastic check-out bags in the town, the NRC announced.

The goal of the bylaw is to phase out the use of certain plastic shopping bags by Jan. 1, 2017.

NRC director Brandon Schmitt told Patch officials are still working out exactly how the regulations will work. It could be some stores will be exempt. There is also the possibility that plastic grocery bags of a certain material or thickness will escape the ban.

Schmitt said local businesses have been generally supportive of the initiative and some had implemented their own plastic bag bans before the bylaw was even mentioned.

In 2015, the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility decided to stop accepting single-use plastic bags for recycling. This means even more plastic bags are ending up in landfills. The decision to phase plastic bags out was partially based on the RDF decision.

Another factor that led to the proposal was a buildup of plastic litter in Wellesley’s parks and landscapes. Schmitt said there has been a long-term rise in plastic bag litter in Wellesley parks.

“Plastic bags wind up in the trees, in our rivers and wetlands, and ultimately in our oceans. This petroleum-based plastic never biodegrades—it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces that remain in the environment for at least 1,000 years,” NRC Vice Chair Lise Olney said in a news release.

The NRC will be seeking public opinion on the plastic bag ban on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Wellesley Town Hall.

The NRC is also co-sponsoring the state-wide Mass Green Summit on Saturday, Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Wakelin Room of the Wellesley Free Library. Participants are asked to sign up in advance HERE.