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The plastic bag ban goes into effect this Sunday.
By Forum Staff
A statewide education and outreach campaign has been launched to ensure that New Yorkers are aware of the Sunday, March 1, ban on single-use plastic bags, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.
According to the administration, the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s BYOBagNY campaign, includes TV and radio advertisements, social media, Google Ads, and events hosted by Feeding New York State food banks across the state. As part of this effort, DEC is also distributing more than 270,000 reusable bags with a focus on low- and moderate-income communities.
Additionally, the DEC is bolstering its ongoing outreach to stakeholders and industry associations, including the Food Industry Alliance, the Retail Council, the New York Association of Convenience Stores, and partnering with State agencies to distribute reusable bags and elevate the BYOBagNY message. DEC is also providing its nine regional offices with BYOBagNY educational materials for use as outreach at public events and is working with New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to coordinate cross-agency efforts related to clear communication of the law entities required to collect state sales tax.
Earlier this month, DEC released final regulations to implement the State Plastic Bag Waste Reduction Act. After a review of the approximately 2,500 comments received from stakeholders and communities during the 60-day public comment period and hearing, these final regulations will be published in the State Register on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. DEC updated the proposed regulations that were released in November 2019 based on the comments received from the public to include minor refinements in keeping with the overriding objective of the act to reduce plastic bag waste.
According to the administration, New Yorkers use an estimated 23 billion plastic bags annually—each for about 12 minutes—and approximately 85 percent of this total ends up in landfills, recycling machines, waterways, and streets.
“Right this minute, plastic bags are hanging in trees, blowing down the streets, filling up our landfills and polluting our lakes, rivers and streams—all hurting our environment,” Cuomo said. “Twelve million barrels of oil are used to make the plastic bags we use every year and by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in the oceans than fish. We took bold action to protect our environment and ban these environmental blights and with this campaign we’re going to make sure New Yorkers are ready and have all the facts.”
Cuomo signed legislation to ban the sale of single-use plastic bags in the Empire State on Earth Day, April 23, 2019.
“New York continues to be a national leader on environmental issues, and the plastic bag ban is the latest in a series of actions Gov. Cuomo has directed to preserve our air, land, and waters for future generations,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos added.
DEC officials have indicated that the agency will continue to focus its outreach and education efforts to ensure a smooth transition for consumers and affected retailers, with enforcement to follow in the months ahead.
