Heavy-handed legislation not a way to reduce plastic-bag litter

A recent letter suggested that one way to reduce plastic bag litter in South Carolina could be by partnering with Novolex, a Hartsville-based plastic bag recycler and manufacture with roughly 7,000 employees in the U.S. — including me. From my vantage point, focusing on recycling education and product reuse would be better than pursuing heavy-handed, product-specific regulation in Beaufort County.

Plastic bags make up just 0.5 percent of waste in the U.S., meaning product bans might make bags go away, but they will have negligible impact on waste and litter overall.

There are other costs to consider too. After Austin, Texas, banned plastic bags, a study found thicker reusable bags were taking their place in local landfills, increasing the total tonnage of bag waste and canceling out any supposed bag ban benefits. In San Jose, Calif., it is reported that litter has increased significantly in the years since a ban took effect.

I’m proud Novolex is a leader in sustainability and a driver of forward-thinking recycling solutions. As a company, we’ve partnered with retailers to set up more than 30,000 plastic recycling drop-off locations around the country. We’ve also developed the world’s first (and largest) closed-loop recycling facility and added another last year. These facilities recycle more than 35 million pounds of plastic film annually, producing raw materials for new eco-friendly products.

South Carolina’s environment deserves our care and respect. While banning bags may seem like an obvious “solution,” data doesn’t support it. Recycling and reuse is the way to make positive change.

This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 7:17 AM with the headline "Heavy-handed legislation not a way to reduce plastic-bag litter."