Pushing Back Against Single-Use Plastics

September 6, 2019

plastic bag and straw ban public hearing

Photo courtesy of Dianne Herrin's office

By Jim Wylie

On July 17 th, West Chester Borough Council stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. Not to be
deterred by a state prohibition on municipal regulations of single-use plastics, the ordinance was passed
4 to 3 after a serious debate about what the best strategy is to get an ordinance into effect: break state
law by passing an ordinance anyway, or challenge the legality of the state restriction. (watch the full video
here: https://www.facebook.com/WestChesterLive/videos/381979382453244 , here: WC Green Team, or
here: Mayor’s post).

In the end, the Council chose to walk a fine line between standing up to state overreach by passing
the ordinance, but setting the activation date for enforcement of the ordinance to July 2, 2020 – one day after
the currently stated prohibition.

It is anticipated that in the next year several things will happen:

  • More small municipalities will pass similar ordinances in defiance of the state rule
  • A legal challenge will be made about this prohibition on municipal regulations
  • Philadelphia will pass a similar ordinance
  • The state legislature will do one of the following:
    • Rescind the current prohibition (which was added in hastily to the fiscal code a day before summer recess)
    • Propose a permanent and stand-alone bill that will restrict municipalities from regulating single-use plastics (which has passed PA house and senate before, but was vetoed by Governor Wolf)
    • Pass a state-wide ban on plastic bags following New York and Maine
  • And perhaps the state will sue the West Chester Borough Council for damages caused by passing this ordinance.

What can we do next to keep the momentum going? We can encourage other municipalities to consider passing similar ordinances. We can develop a list of local ordinances while the state legislature
is on summer recess. Once the General Assembly returns in September, we could welcome them back with a truck full of plastic bags on their doorstep. What do you think the state will do? What will your town do?

This blog was included as part of the 2019 Fall Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!