Jobs & Economy
For reasons beyond us, the economy is often cited as a reason not to have legislation on single-use bags. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If anything, a bag bill will decrease major costs that are incurred by local Virginian municipalities to manage solid waste and stormwater issues, as well as litter cleanups. A bag bill could also boost fishing and tourism industries by enhancing environmental health.
Local & State Government Pay The Price
Virginia spends millions of dollars a year cleaning up litter on the tax-payers’ dime. VDOT estimates that it spends $6 million a year picking up litter on roadways (not including its Adopt-A-Highway program, which provides annual savings of $1.35 million). This only scratches the surface of the costs that municipalities pay to curb the disposable bag problem. Because plastic bags are not something that local recovery centers can recycle, plastic bags are a major source of contamination during the recycling process. Despite consistent messaging, many residents put plastic bags into recycling bins, or send recyclables within a plastic bag. This, coupled with a shrinking recyclables market due to China’s embargo on contaminated US recyclables, is a major problem in waste management. Indeed, the economic impact is vastly underestimated because environmental services, the value that the environment adds to the economy, are difficult to quantify. Cities and researchers have attempted to quantify the cost of bags, factoring in environmental costs as well as costs to municipalities, settling on $0.10 – $0.20 per bag.
Local Industry Pays The Price
Fishing, tourism and cotton farming all struggle with the adverse effects of plastic bags.
- Tourism – Littered beaches are less valuable than clean beaches, which should not be surprising. One study conducted in California found that a 75% reduction in beach debris was valued at $46.39 per visitor. Even a 25% reduction resulted in $14.09 more per visitor. While that dollar amount can’t directly be used to quantify the economic value of a cleaner Virginia beach, it does provide context. Cleaner beaches = stronger tourism.
- Fishing – Plastics are ingested by marine organisms that are vitally important to Virginia’s economy. Microplastics are now found in oysters and other shellfish around the world. Fish also mistake plastic for food and said plastic has been shown to alter reproductive success and liver function. Less plastic = resilient fisheries.
- Cotton Farming – Plastic bags are not a friend of the cotton farmer. The bags are sometimes swept up in baling machinery, which destroys the entire cotton bale, causing hundreds if not thousands of dollars in losses.
Retailers and Consumers Will Save
At the moment, retailers bear the entire brunt of the cost for disposable bags, though they likely pass on that cost to consumers through subtly higher pricing. Consequently, retailers and consumers will both save when retailers are no longer expected to shoulder the cost of providing single-use bags free of charge. The only consumers that will continue to pay are the ones that are actively willing to do so!
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