Should Richland County ban plastic bags? How your input could tip the scales
Richland County wants residents to help decide if a ban on plastic bags should go into effect.
The county has posted a survey online for residents to express their views on the proposal that would ban single-use plastic bags from grocery stores and other retailers.
The survey is part of an effort to get public engagement on a proposal Richland County Council first voted on last summer.
Under that ordinance, plastic and some paper bags would disappear from the county’s stores. Instead, stores would offer shoppers the option of taking their items home in a reusable bag or a bag made from recycled paper.
Businesses that do not comply with the ordinance would be fined up to $500 per violation and face the possibility of having their business license revoked.
Before that ordinance goes into effect, the county has put together a plastic bag ordinance task force to collect feedback on the idea, particularly from businesses that would be most affected. The task force developed two surveys, one for county residents and one for businesses operating in Richland County.
This week, task force chairwoman Pam Davis told the council the survey will run until March 18. The task force will then hold roundtables with different stakeholders in March, April and May. A revised ordinance will then be brought back to council members in July, one year after the original council vote.
Activists have pushed for an end to the use of the ubiquitous plastic bags, saying they’re as detrimental to a clean environment, a frequent source of litter that can wash down storm drains and end up cluttering oceans with floating “garbage patches.”
Similar bans have already passed in many coastal areas of South Carolina, but they have spread beyond the beach. Within Richland County, the town of Arcadia Lakes already voted to ban plastic bags, along with Styrofoam cups and coolers. Lexington County also discussed a ban in June. Residents can still possess plastic bags, but stores cannot distribute or sell them.
Opponents of such bans say they hurt business and annoy customers. The growing number of local bag prohibitions led some state legislators to push for a ban on bans in the most recent legislative session, pushed in part by an estimated $88,000 in lobbying by the industry-backed American Progressive Bag Alliance in the last two years.
That measure didn’t make it to the Senate floor by the end of the session, but lawmakers could take it up again when they return in January.
Other governments that have banned plastic bags in South Carolina are:
▪ Arcadia Lakes (effective March 2020), City of Charleston (effective Jan. 1, 2020), Charleston County (effective August 2019 in unincorporated parts of the county), Folly Beach, Beaufort, Bluffton, Port Royal, Hilton Head, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, James Island (effective January 2020), Surfside Beach, Sullivan’s Island, Camden (effective Jan. 1, 2020), Edisto Beach (effective Jan. 1, 2020), North Myrtle Beach (effective Jan. 1, 2021) and Kiawah Island (effective Sept. 8).
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