The debate continues on how to reduce single-use plastic bags in Los Alamos County. Courtesy image 

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Los Alamos County has been tightly enwrapped and knotted in an ongoing question: should the County ban or enforce a fee for single-use plastic bags?

The question has been debated over the years, but it recently reappeared during the Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) meeting Oct. 16 and then again at the Oct. 21 County Council work session.

Based on feedback during the Oct. 21 work session, council seemed to favor proceeding with either a ban or a bag fee.

Councilor Randall Ryti commented that this is a complicated issue. He pointed out that a lot of education on plastic bags has been done but at Smith’s, the biggest distributor of plastic bags in the County, the split between those who use plastic bags and those who use reusable ones is even.

However, if plastic bags are banned in one area – what about the others? Ryti noted that for solid waste, the requirement is that everything is bagged and usually in a plastic trash bag.

He did support reducing the number of single-use plastics.

“Seems like there are definite negatives to having single use plastics and (we should be) figuring out some way for people to not use them that way,” Ryti said.

Council Vice Chair Suzie Havemann said she felt it wasn’t a complicated issue; the County should encourage residents to toss plastic bags aside.

“…plastic bags are detrimental to so many parts of our greater community,” she said. “Whether you just want to look at cost of recycling when the loads get contaminated, to the impacts on our wildlife, to our aesthetics, to our natural beauty – to me the negatives of plastic bag use far exceed the benefits of having free access to plastic bags … certainly this does not mean that plastic bags will be forbidden; they will still be available for people to purchase if people need plastic bags … “

Havemann further noted that in New Mexico, more than half the state’s population is under a plastic bag ban. She added if a fee is instituted, it should not be a revenue generator for the County. The main goal is to reduce plastic bags.

The debate over plastic bags in Los Alamos has been ongoing.

ESB Chair Shannon Blair offered some history on the issue during the board meeting Oct. 16.

She explained in January, Council approved to evaluate single use plastic bags and to include factors such as ability to recycle and other alternatives, the cost to the County to recycle and how to engage local businesses and other interested parties.

Before this, Blair said in 2015 a citizen petition to ban plastic bags and implement a 10-cent fee for paper bags was presented to council. At the time, surveys showed 80 percent of respondents opposed a ban and 72 percent opposed reducing distribution of plastic bags. Ultimately, the ESB recommended education over regulation.

But the idea of banning plastic bags didn’t disappear. Blair reported that in 2019 or 2021 there was another petition to ban plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam. In response, council formed a subcommittee to focus on an education campaign, food composting and campaigning for reusable dishware for schools. The subcommittee was also tasked to look at plastic bags.

Plastic bags are tricky things. According to Blair’s report, most grocery bags are made of high-density polyethylene. They take about 1,000 years to decompose and rather than breaking down, they photo-degrade and become microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.

“Which is obviously a big concern…,” Blair said.

Would banning them work? Blair said based on research she obtained about coastal communities, “They can lead up to a 25 percent – 45 percent decrease in plastic bags as a share of tidal items collected by litter cleanups relative to areas without policies.”

However, “There can be unintended consequences with plastic bag policies so for instance, trash bag sales can go up (because) people use them to line their trash cans.”

As far as if plastic bags are recyclable, Blair said they are, but it is necessary to go to a designated spot to recycle them. They are not included in the County’s curbside recycling pickup.

She noted that 80-87 percent of bags are not recycled. They are used on average for 14 minutes. In New Mexico, residents use at least 330 million single use plastic bags a year.

As a result, Blair said there are a couple of plastic bag ordinances in the state. Las Cruces and Santa Fe each have one. Santa Fe City has a 10-cent fee. She said 9 percent of the fee is retained by the businesses. At the state-level, there has been some movement. For example, a bill (House Bill 392) was introduced to ban plastic bags and institute a 10-cent paper bag fee. Of that, 3 cents would go to the retailer, and the remainder would go to municipalities’  litter reduction and outreach.

Locally, Blair said the focus is on Smith’s since it is Los Alamos’ sole big-box store. At the Los Alamos location, 3.12 million bags are used in a year; Blair said the number for the White Rock store isn’t known. Both locations have collection bins for recycle bags. The contents are shipped to warehouses in Pheonix, Seattle or Las Vegas.

“The individuals we talked to weren’t sure what happened after that, so is it recycled? Who knows. Is it thrown out? Who knows. We’re not sure. Hopefully it is recycled,” Blair said.

The White Rock location did at one time charge a 10-cent bag fee to use the thicker plastic bags, but customers complained that the White Rock store had a fee while the Los Alamos store didn’t, so the fee was dropped, Blair said.

Even if a ban or fee was instituted, ESB discussed exempting small businesses and restaurants. The only businesses that would be affected are Smith’s and gas stations.

ESB member Sue Barns wondered if the County would enforce this at the grocery store chain. She added the County needs to effectively show that this is not a revenue generator but a way to reduce plastic.

“Most of the municipalities we talked to, they use (the fee) for education for sustainability purposes … I think council has the opportunity to write (the ordinance) … how they see it most effective and enforceable as well,” Blair said.

What will be done now to help answer this question about plastic bags? While there are no specifics identified, Blair mentioned possibly issuing a new survey to weigh the public’s thoughts on a ban or a fee because plastic bags are not going away and so the question of what do with them persists.