Asheville – The Asheville City Council voted in favor of “Single Use Plastic Reduction Ordinances.” Specifically, they approved two things. The first was “a prohibition on plastic bags for curbside leaf litter collection.” The second constituted giving staff marching orders, “to work to further address public input on regulation of plastic bags at point of sale and expanded polystyrene disposable foodware products.” In other words, they are moving toward banning the use of reusable plastic bags at checkout counters and plastic products at carryout counters. Additional phases of this initiative, of course, are to be expected.
The initiative presumably began in March, when the city’s Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment (SACEE) received a request from the council. They were asked to come up with recommendations for a plastic reduction policy. Within two months, however, the nonprofit organization MountainTrue presented SACEE with a draft ordinance, which, in July, following committee vetting, SACEE agreed to present to city staff.
At the same meeting, SACEE supported with a 5-2 vote a new ordinance that would ban plastic bags at points of sale and require retailers to charge 10 cents for each paper bag requested at checkout. The ordinance also would have banned disposable Styrofoam foodware products. SACEE also unanimously supported the elimination of plastic leaf collection bags.
Staff described the ordinance as helping the city reach its goal of reducing solid waste to 50% of 2010 levels by 2035. According to the staff report, getting rid of plastic leaf bags “will improve staff safety and enhance community cleanliness by eliminating a source of litter that impacts communities and clogs stormwater drains.” Besides, the $20,000 needed for implementation was already built into the municipal budget.
When it came to explaining why the staff was delaying the ban on disposable checkout bags and Styrofoam foodware, the explanations became a little more obtuse.”Directing [the] city manager to have staff explore a second phase will ensure that staff capacity and resources are dedicated to conducting a more extensive public input campaign and equity analysis in order to gather more data on the size of the impacted business community and concerns/support from residents,” read the staff report. Staff also needed more time to develop the education and outreach components.
More cogently, staff was requesting extra time to explore the legality of the council imposing a 10-cent fee that would not be collected by the city. The ordinance upon which the council will vote has not been solidified, but at least one draft stated that the fees would be retained by the businesses selling the bags. When concerns were raised about how equitable it would be to charge the poorest of the poor an extra 10 cents per bag, the staff’s answer was that paper leaf bags could be bought in bulk, out of season, for about the same price as plastic bags, and reusable leaf containers are available for $20-$30 each.
According to city staff, the process was informed by a survey conducted by a group called Plastic Free WNC, a coalition of MountainTrue, the Sierra Club, and the NC Public Interest Research Group. As the process moves forward, additional equity will be ensured via inclusionary efforts in additional outreach. Based on the latest timeline, staff would not be returning to council with a recommendation on the grocery bag portion of the ordinance for another year.
Mayor Esther Manheimer, noting, “We have a lot of green-wearing people” in the room, said she, and all on the council, supported the measure. This was to encourage everybody to limit their comments. Many of those who spoke during public comment were members of the nonprofits that helped with the draft ordinance. Nobody spoke in opposition.
MountainTrue’s Riverkeeper, Hartwell Carson, was among many recommending moving faster. He argued that every year, another 60 million plastic bags go into Asheville’s waste stream. Lori Aker, director of marketing for EarthFare, talked about how that store and its customers transitioned away from plastic and Styrofoam “with open arms” ten years ago. She named several stores and locations that no longer use plastic and said 40% of shoppers now use reusable bags.
The Sierra Club’s WENOCA Group presented in typical fashion. Chair Judy Mattox spoke of a petition, this one with 3,000 signatures, urging the council to ban plastic bags and Styrofoam by the end of the year; and a couple of students spoke about the science and their assistance with the petition drive. Recurring themes were that the bans were a hit with locals, they’ve been implemented in many other places, time is of the essence due to climate change, and the average human’s weekly ingestion of microplastics is the size of a credit card.
Councilwoman Kim Roney explained the limiting reagent forcing the delay was time. The City Council wouldn’t be able to complete its Climate Justice Initiative if it diverted staff time to work on the plastics issue. “Flooding, landslides, wildfires, food security, housing, [and], of course, water quality” were all serious issues needing attention. Given “the stated climate emergency,” Roney said, if there are “capacity issues” in the Office of Sustainability, the council should be thinking about how to get more funding for that office.
Manheimer reiterated her support, but added, “I know that one major merchant in our community has not been engaged in this, and it’s Ingles. To me, that’s kind of the big nut to crack in terms of – not so much Ingles, because, you know, Ingles we love you – but they can be challenging around – whether it’s our lighting ordinance or our sidewalk requirements or our tree planting requirements or, anyway, whatever. I’m concerned more about the customers.”
Councilwoman Sandra Kilgore agreed that the proverbial elephant in the room was symbolized by Ingles. She asked what had been done to collect input from all types of grocery stores and their customers; she hadn’t read anything about it in the nonprofit’s report. She would also like to know more about what she had heard about programs for small businesses that would supplement the cost of compliance. She said if staff did not invite the dialogue, these concerns would be “something that comes up on the back end.”
Councilwoman Sage Turner acknowledged that the public hearing had been somewhat of a bubble, with citizens echoing the council’s sentiments. She also said she had also been hearing concerns from independent restaurateurs that have yet to recover from the hit they took from COVID.
The city’s Sustainability Director, Bridget Herring, added that she had heard that Harrah’s Cherokee Center had had challenges with composting during the COVID shutdown. She said it’s difficult to learn what proprietors think when one does not patronize their businesses; it’s difficult to get anybody on the phone.
Councilwoman Gwen Wisler said one reason she supported the lengthier timeline was that Buncombe County was not onboard. There will now be more opportunities for the county and other municipalities to change their minds about partnering. City Manager Debra Campbell said needing time to engage more partners was just one reason for the delays. Being spread thin was another. Most importantly, though, for all the jurisdictions celebrated for banning bags during public comment, none of them were in North Carolina, and staff needed to address legal issues first.