Photo By Christine Cabalo | Oahu businesses will no longer be allowed to use non-recyclable plastic bags for...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - Oahu joins other areas of the state in banning non-recyclable plastic checkout bags starting July 1, 2015.
The Honolulu City Council passed the ban in April 2012, giving customers and businesses time to adjust before enforcement begins July 1, 2015.
“What the ban will do is reduce the number of plastic bags in Honolulu, which should have a very positive effect on the marine environment,” said Markus Owens, the public information officer for the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services.
All checkout bags provided by businesses must be made from either recyclable paper, reusable plastic, other reusable material or meet the standards of compostable bags, as outlined in changes made in Chapter 9, Article 9 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu. The ban does have exceptions.
“Don’t be surprised if you may see some plastic bags, because there are some types of plastic bags that are exempt from the ban,” Owens said. “Those bags are usually compostable
or thicker.”
A full list describing the ban is found at the City and County of Honolulu’s website for trash. Businesses may still provide thin plastic bags for customers to transport produce and other grocery items. Restaurants and takeout food businesses may provide conventional plastic bags to transport food. Plastic bags that are more than 2.25-millimeters thick are deemed reusable.
Owens said the ban does not include bags provided for dry cleaning, newspaper delivery or from pharmacists providing prescription medication.
The Aikahi Shopping Center location of Safeway in Kailua will still have bins for recycling plastic bags, with no current plans to stop collecting them.
Federal entities are not required to follow the ban, but some retailers plan to switch or do not currently carry conventional plastic bags.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii has adapted to shopping without plastic bags at the Marine Corps Exchange and other Marine Corps Community Services Hawaii locations since January 2009. Former base commanding officer Col. Robert Rice enacted the policy to end plastic bag use at MCCS retail locations. This policy is still in place, with recyclable paper and reusable bags available at checkouts.
The Navy Exchange at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam will be switching to compostable bags after Wednesday, according to the special events updates at the Navy Exchange Service Command’s official website for the JBPHH location. The bags will meet the American Society of Testing and Materials D6400 certification for compostable bags.
The only non-restaurant entity at MCB Hawaii still providing new plastic bags at checkout is the Kaneohe Bay Commissary. The store follows guidelines made by the Defense Commissary Agency, with standards regulating how commissaries operate in Hawaii and overseas. The agency is still studying various alternatives when it comes to patron shopping bags, said Nancy O’Nell, a public affairs specialist for DeCA.
In February 2015, Owens said notices about the ban were sent out to approximately 9,000 local businesses along with a survey of their plans to comply. Of those who responded, Owens said 25 percent of businesses reported they would be switching to compostable bags, 44 percent to paper bags and 31 percent reported they planned to switch to reusable bags.
In Hawaii, Owens said plastic bags that don’t escape into the environment are either part of the general solid waste that goes into the landfill or used as an energy source for H-Power. There are currently no facilities to process compostable plastic bags on Oahu.
He said since Oahu has shifted to more extensive recycling sorting with a three-cart system, the amount of solid waste to the landfill has significantly dropped from approximately 600 tons annually to just 50 to 80 tons.
However, plastic bags that do escape into the environment are some of the most common items found during beach cleanups, said Rafael Bergstrom, Oahu Chapter administrator of the Surfrider Foundation. The nonprofit group, which supports beach and water cleanups, was part of several organizations supporting the initial push for a ban on Oahu.
“Part of it is a whole single-use plastic problem,” Bergstrom said. “Society relies on it, and we need to wean off of it. A little piece of plastic, blowing in air can cause problems in the environment. Currently not all plastic bags end up in the landfill or are used for H-power.”
Owens said in addition to reducing single-use plastic bags, shoppers can also tie knots into bags they throw out to ensure the wind doesn’t sweep up bags.
Otherwise, those plastic bags get into the water and get stuck there or picked up by Bergstrom or others who volunteer their time to clean.
“The wonderful and horrible thing about plastic is that it won’t go away,” Bergstrom said. “We’re not against plastics. They have a place in our life. But we need to focus our resources on resuables, not on one-use items and properly throwing (trash) away.”
For details about the ban, see the Honolulu government’s website at: www.opala.org/solid_waste/archive/plastic_bag_ban.html.
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2015 17:52 |
| Story ID: | 168356 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 346 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, In the bag: Oahu begins plastic bag ban in July, by Christine Cabalo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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