Plastic and Paper Bags Will Now Cost 5 Cents in NYC

NEW YORK CITY, NY — The New York City Council passed legislation Thursday placing a fee on almost all disposable plastic and paper bags distributed by retailers throughout the city.

Coming into the vote, the bill had 26 supporters, the slimmest majority possible in the 51-member Council, but it wound up passing with 28 votes.

The legislation now heads to the desk of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who issued a statement Thursday confirming his support and describing it as a way to achieve the city's goal of sending no trash to landfills by 2030.

If it becomes law, the fee will go into effect Oct. 1.

Retailers will then be required to charge at least 5 cents per disposable paper or plastic bag, with a few exceptions — including bags containing food that isn't pre-packaged, pharmacy drugs and some garments. Businesses will keep any fees collected.

The bill also stipulates that beginning in 2018, city officials must run an annual assessment of the law's impact on NYC trash. And a separate study must be released in 2019 analyzing the fee's impact on consumers.

The city will be also required to work with companies and nonprofits to engage in reusable bag giveaways, prioritizing low-income communities. (Shoppers using food stamps or other forms of public assistance won't have to pay the fee.)

Kathyrn Garcia, head of the NYC Department of Sanitation, told a Council committee in 2014 that each year, the city sends 91,000 tons of single-use paper and plastic bags to landfills — at a cost of $12.5 million to taxpayers. Around 9.37 billion single-use plastic bags are used in the city annually, Garcia said.

Supporters of a bag fee say it will encourage reusable bag use and reduce waste, as similar fees have done in other cities.

Washington, D.C., for example, implemented a 5 cent fee in 2009. A 2013 study conducted by the city found that 80 percent of residents used fewer bags after the fee was implemented. Businesses, meanwhile, had cut their bag purchases in half.

But the legislation, a version of which was originally introduced in 2014 by Council members Margaret Chin and Brad Lander — who represents much of Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace and Kensington — remained contentious until the end.

Just this week, Lander was accused by plastics manufacturer Novolex of hiding evidence that bags can be recycled for a profit (Lander said the company's own statements prove the opposite), while Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, whose district includes Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights, hosted a boisterous town hall meeting Tuesday where opponents of the bill were louder than supporters.

Critics primarily argued that while eliminating disposable bags is a laudatory goal, the legislation would unfairly burden low-income New Yorkers, a line of argument made repeatedly on the Council floor Thursday.

"Rent is expensive. Food is expensive," said Councilman Matthew Eugene, an opponent of the bill who represents Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Ditmas Park and Kensington Park. "We can find other ways, a better way, to address the issue without charging those who cannot afford it."

Supporters, however, have said their goal is to help people avoid bag fees by using reusable bags instead, and added that so-called "free" bags have a cost on the environment.

Bill backer Antonio Reynoso, whose council district includes parts of Williamsburg and Bushwick, said bag waste "particularly affects low income communities of color" who live in sections of the city where trash is processed.

Cumbo, who said after Tuesday's meeting that she was undecided on the legislation, voted for it on environmental grounds.

"Climate change is real, and the devastation it is having all across this globe is very real," she said. "Is this legislation perfect? Absolutely not. But because of the benefits it will give to our environment, for future generations, it's important."

Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca agreed, challenging those voting against the bill "to come up with a better idea. It's not enough to say that you're for the environment."

The debate's tone was broken by Brooklyn Councilman Eric Ulrich, who brought "contraband" props to the floor, including paper bags on which he had drawn "RIP" and a cartoon frowning face.

"Not one sponsor of the bill has been able to tell me what were're going to do with people who walk their dogs," Ulrich said, referring to dog owners who bag dog waste using plastic bags. "Paper towels is not going to cut it. Rubber gloves is too hands on."

“Your argument is full of dog poop," Reynoso replied.

Outside the Council chamber, Diana Blackwell, a resident of Harlem's Frederick E. Samuel Apartments and a long-time supporter of the legislation, said she was "ecstatic" after it passed.

"This is the future," she said. "Now New York can actually lead like we're supposed to lead."

Photo by Kate Ter Harr