Just hours after withdrawing his bill for a statewide ban on single use plastic bags, Senator Mark Hass sounds upbeat.
SB 1009, the bill he co-sponsored with Senator Jason Atkinson, was the underdog story of the special session. At the beginning, it wasn’t on the radar screen of the state’s big environmental groups. But when news of the proposed bag ban broke it grabbed the public’s attention like nothing else the green agenda.
“We just ran out of time,” say Hass. Efforts to reach some kind of agreement with Oregon grocers never came about. In a shortened special session, consensus must come together quickly.
But ban supporters accomplished something important. The debate focused lots of attention on plastic bags and their major contribution to Oregon’s litter problem. “We’ll fight again another day,” says Hass, promising to revive the issue when the legislature returns in early 2011.
Maybe The Timing Was Off
Hass thinks a big reason that Oregon’s grocery stores never got behind the bill is because paper bags are so much more expensive than plastic ones. The leader of a statewide chain told him his company’s costs would rise $10 million per year if the bill passed. “A valid complaint,” says Hass, especially during a recession. There were a few times during negotiations that Hass thought they were close to a deal. “But we just couldn’t turn the corner,” he says.
Today’s defeat gives Hass, Atkinson and other supporters a lot more time to work out differences over the bill. “We’ll be back in 2011 with something,” says Haas, hoping that next time the grocers “will be part of the team.”
Hass says the problems of plastic bag litter reminds him of what motivated Oregonians to approve the nation’s first Bottle Bill in 1971. “We have to solve this. It’s a huge problem in Oregon and no one is doing anything about it.” Hass says that according to SOLV, 12% of the garbage they collect during the statewide beach clean ups are plastic bags.
He says plastic bags are driving up the costs of recycling and quotes information from the recycling industry which says 35% of their operating costs are from plastic bags jamming up the sorting machines.
What Happens Now
While Hass, Atkinson and other supporters in the legislature ponder their next move, Oregon Surfrider thinks smaller efforts to fix the litter problem will take off across the state. The Portland Chapter is trying to drum up support for a 20-cent per bag fee within the city. Surfrider’s Oregon Field Manager Charlie Plybon says he thinks chapters along the coast will start focusing harder on the issue, probably starting with bans on styrofoam.
For more information on what Surfrider is doing:
Portland Chapter: Rise Above Plastics Campaign
Surfrider National: Rise Above Plastics Campaign
Text of Hass’ Statement To The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Over the last two weeks, this legislation has launched a much needed discussion on the scourge of plastic bags on Oregon’s environment and the damage they are doing to Oregon recyclers. This dialogue is more than we would have hoped for and several important facts have come into focus.
1. Plastic bags are an increasing component of litter in Oregon. Today’s problem rivals that of the one that prompted passage of the Bottle Bill in 1971. The Tom McCall founded group, SOLV, says 12 percent of the garbage collected during their beach clean-ups are non-biodegradable plastic bags.
2. Oregon recyclers have been slammed with exploding costs associated with plastic bags. The Association of Oregon Recyclers says 35 percent of operating expenses at material recovery facilities are directly due to plastic bags that jam sorting machines.
3. The plastics industry has chosen a strategy of demonizing paper bags as a way to divert attention from the environmental damage plastic bags have on wildlife, beaches and oceans.
4. The state has no plan to deal with this environmental problem. There is no litter plan. Oregon is losing the war against litter because we are not fighting a war against litter.
It was our hope that we could come up with a statewide solution before local governments move forward with their own plastic bag ordinances.
We’ve already gone through many drafts in an effort to reach consensus here. But it’s clear the clock will run out on us before we can find the magic mix. Without consensus, we cannot move the bill today.
Still, we’re committed to keeping this dialogue going with legislators, people with skin in the game and most of all with Oregon consumers — who are ultimately the critical component in keeping these bags from continuing to pollute Oregon’s rivers, mountainsides and beaches.
The common ground here is that supporters of this legislation as well as opponents agree plastic bags are a huge environmental problem. So let’s use this common ground as the building blocks moving forward. We have time. These bags will be around for a thousand years.
Co-sponsors:
Mark Hass
Jason Atkinson
