City Eyes Plastic Bag Ban

If a new plan becomes law, fewer plastic bags will accumulate under New Haven sinks, in the dump, on sidewalks, or in the Sound.

That’s the goal of a proposed city ordinance the Harp administration is pushing to reduce the common use of plastic single-use carry-out bags. The non-biodegradable bags pollute the ocean and kill whales and dolphins there, jam recycling machinery, deplete the ozone layer when incinerated, and clog landfills.

At Wednesday night’s regular meeting at City Hall of the Environmental Avisory Council (EAC), mayoral Legislative Assistant and Policy Analyst Esther Armmand announced the general framework of the proposed plastic bag ordinance.

“She [the mayor] feels strongly about this,” Armmand said.

The mayor two weeks ago asked Armmand to begin to frame a communication to the Board of Alders that would start the process of crafting of an ordinance that would then go through the committee and public hearing process before being voted on as a piece of legislation.

The initiative is one that is part of the City of New Haven Climate and Sustainability Framework, which was passed by the alders in March of this year.

The framework calls for the city to tax plastic bags and straws and water bottles in keeping with zero waste design guidelines for urban centers.

The aspirational framework calls not only on the city to adopt new policies but for individual businesses and citizens to make everyday decisions that cumulatively will reduce New Haven’s carbon emissions by 55 percent by 2030.

Armmand told the committee Wednesday night she doesn’t have details yet about whether the ordinance would rely on taxes or fines and/or public education to reduce and eventually eliminate one-use plastic bags in town. She said she hopes that public hearings at the Board of Alders would enlist the public in helping to shape those details.

The opening paragraph of the framework for the ordinance reads:

From Mayor Toni N. Harp, on behalf of the residents of the City of New Haven, an order to advance the work of the Environmental Advisory Council, the New Haven Climate and Sustainability Framework, the One-City Initiative, City Services and New Haven Environmental Policy to promote citywide efforts of sustainable materials management by enacting an ordinance to eliminate the common use of plastic single-use carry-out bags. It is the intent of the city of New Haven in enacting this ordinance to encourage the use of reusable bags by consumers and retailers, and to reduce the consumption of single-use bags in general.

Environmental groups estimate that a billion plastic bags are used annually in Connecticut. The city’s step is part of a wave of individual towns that have already or are in the process of fashioning bans. According to this recent article in the Hartford Courant Westport banned single-use plastic bags in 2009, and Greenwich followed soon thereafter. Middletown and Mansfield are planning bans.

Towns along the shoreline, where many of the bags end up in Long Island Sound, are also planning legislation. Statewide legislation is also in the offing for the 2019 session.

“It’ll make a difference in the city,” Armmand said. She expressed the hope that an ordinance could be passed this year.

Mayor Toni Harp said Thursday on her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s ​“Mayor Monday” program that she envisions beginning with a pilot program under the ordinance to last three years to assess how best to accomplish the goal.

“We’re not asking people to get rid of plastic immediately” but rather to help gradually move it in that direction, Harp said.

Click on the Facebook Live video to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s ​“Mayor Monday,” which also touched on the legacy of Henry ​“Hank” Parker and of city architect Dave Moser, ​“portfolio” public schools, ​“social-emotional” efforts, and the fate of vowels in 21st century urban development projects.

This episode of ​“Mayor Monday” was made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem Moses P.C.