Ban on single use plastic bags tabled for another six months

The Logan City Council decided Tuesday night to delay a vote on an ordinance that would have banned single use plastic bags typically distributed in grocery and convenience stores.

The decision to hold off on the ban came after weeks of vigorous debate from the public and a plea from Councilman Herm Olsen to vote in favor of the ordinance.

The volume, the tonage of plastics that is currently sent out to our landfill is massive, and whatever we can do to minimize that, to reduce it, to recycle that plastic adds years to the life of our landfill and is a great environmental benefit to our community,” said Olsen.

Members of the Cache County Solid Waste Advisory Board attended the meeting to urge the council to hold off on implementing the ban.

Craig Buttars, the board chairman and Cache County Executive, said a county wide plastic waste reduction program is currently being discussed and felt it would be beneficial for all 19 cities in the county to work together to address its solid waste problem.

This is a much broader issue than just plastics,” said Buttars. “We made a proposal that would include a public information campaign to address the problem and look at possible solutions that involve the public and will accomplish more in the long run and secure the greater support from the public.”

Lloyd Berentzen, board member and director of the Bear River Health Department, said, “I think it’s a team effort.”

Berentzen encouraged Logan to take a step back and work with other cities and retailers on addressing solutions rather than impose a bag ban.

Olsen agreed everyone in the valley should step up; however, he felt Logan needed to move forward and set an example.

“There is a risk that passage of the ordinance could be misinterpreted by some, but I would hope our message is one of cooperation,” Olsen said.

Councilwoman Amy Anderson worried that implementing the ban would actually undermine the “spirit of cooperation” and send the wrong message.

“I am reluctant to do something,” Anderson said, “if there’s the threat that county individuals will feel we are trying to be the big dog.”

The council agreed to table the ordinance for six months to allow the solid waste advisory board to continue developing a plan for the county.

Had the council voted in favor of the ordinance, Logan would have been Utah’s third city to implement a plastic bag ban.

Park City and Moab have already passed bans on single-use plastic bags.

The Utah State Legislature recently considered a bill that would have blocked cities from enacting bans on plastic bags, straws, containers and other items.

House Bill 320, which was never heard in the 2019 legislative session, faced pushback from communities who claimed the state was dictating what they should do.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

1 Comment

  • L Allen March 20, 2019 at 1:19 pm Reply

    If your argument is tonnage then banning the hyper light plastic bag will make but only a trivial difference. Going after any other plastic container/product will be miles ahead.

    One solution if to encourage recycling by not making it SO easy to simply throw away every thing in the big black 60-90 gal garbage cans. Shrink them down to 30-40 gal for a family of 4 and issue larger can for a family of 6+ as an example. That way when a larger can is requested than issued it will come with big price increase not just $2.25 for 1/3 bigger can (60 to 90 gal) more like double for a 1/3 larger can. Then at the same time offer larger blue recycling can at no extra charge. Logan has one of the easiest way to recycle compared to other cities where I have lived like Portland and Raleigh. I just think some people need a extra motive and the best way is to reward them for recycling.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.