‘Disappointing:’ Beaufort Co. banned plastic bags, so why are some stores using them now?

For many Beaufort County residents, the plastic bag ban that went into effect Nov. 1 was just that — a total ban.

Turns out, it’s more like a “sort of” ban and depends on the kind of plastic bag used.

Target and Walmart have rolled out reusable plastic bags that are allowed by the ordinance. The new bags are significantly thicker than their predecessors — 2.25 mil instead of the .5 mil thickness of a typical single-use plastic bag.

After a stressful weekend for shoppers when Walmart in Bluffton ran out of paper bags, the store started supplying customers with the new gray plastic bags with the words “hand washable” and “reuse 125 times” printed on the side.

Not everyone is happy.

“We would hope Walmart would comply with the text of the ordinance but really the spirit of the ordinance,” said Rikki Parker of the Coastal Conservation League. “The spirit is to reduce plastic bag pollution in the Lowcountry.”

The bags, although reusable, can still litter waterways and roads in Beaufort County, Parker said. The plastic bags, no matter the thickness, are also not biodegradable.

Parker called the move “disappointing,” but said she hopes that Walmart is only using the plastic bag temporarily while the store stocks up on paper bags. She said she has been unable to get an answer from Walmart.

On Wednesday, officials at Walmart and Target did not return two calls and an email to each seeking comment.

And how are the new bags playing among county residents?

Jayme Bowman, a St. Helena resident, told the Island Packet the new bags seem to “sidestep” the law.

“It’s still a plastic bag,” Bowman said. “ I don’t see a lot of people coming home, washing them out and using them again.”

She said the plastic bags are going to “end up right back where we don’t want them” — our ocean.

Kathi Gibb, a Bluffton resident, said she was walking out of Target with the new plastic bag before the ban went into effect. She said she was concerned when she heard people discussing the “new, biodegradable bags.”

Target’s bags are “designed for 125 uses,” according to small text on the side of the bag, but they’re not biodegradable.

“If people are going home and throwing them in the garbage, (it) defeats the whole purpose (of the county ban),” Gibb said.

But other environmental leaders in the county seem to approve of the bag alternatives.

Jody Hayward, director of Port Royal Sound Foundation, said the effort likely comes from a good place.

“I would have to think ... that (the companies) have done their due diligence to make sure that they are doing things that are adhering to the law,” Hayward said. “And that they are doing things to show that they care about the environment.”

When she picked up a bag at Target last week, Hayward said she was intrigued because it felt “almost like a bag you would buy, it was so thick.”

Since most shoppers don’t read the fine print on the side of their bags, here’s a breakdown of the plastic bags that Target and Walmart have implemented:

Target’s reusable bags

• “Everlasting Bag” that is “designed for at least 125 uses.”
• Made from low-density polyethylene, the same type of plastic in most single-use bags.
• Contains 80 percent post-consumer recycled material.
• Hand-washable.
• Includes warning that the bag can still be dangerous to children and cause danger of suffocation.

Walmart’s reusable bags

• “Superbag” that shoppers can “reuse 125 times.”
• Says it uses natural gas instead of oil in production, but oil is not the major source of production of plastics in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
• Contains a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer content.
• Hand-washable by warm soap and water or a disinfectant wipe to the inside of the bag only.
• Says that greenhouse gas emissions are lower in production stages than paper bags, which is true for carbon emissions in manufacturing process.
• Includes warning that the bag can still be dangerous to children and cause danger of suffocation.

Since the new bags are in compliance with the ordinance, the stores are in the clear when it comes to the periodic code enforcement checks that the municipalities will perform.

All that’s left is to hope shoppers don’t toss the bags like they did the old ones, Gibb said.

Bowman worries that would leave the county in the same position it started in: plastic bags littering the sides of streets and Beaufort County waterways.

“Plastic is plastic,” she said. “They’re just trying to make it look better.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 3:16 PM.