Alaska News

Homer plastic bag ban is back on

A ban on plastic bags was reinstated by Homer City Council Monday, overriding a veto by Major James Hornaday, Plastic News reports.

The ordinance originally was passed by the Homer City Council in a 4-2 vote Aug. 27, but the mayor vetoed the ordinance 11 days later, saying "this issue needs…more work." It was his second veto in his eight years serving as mayor.

The ban is intended to reduce litter in the coastal town. Businesses are prohibited from handing out thin plastic bags thinner than 2.25 mils beginning Jan. 1.

The ban excludes some items, such as thicker plastic shopping bags, trash bags, bags for prescription drugs, bags used to package bulk foods and newspaper bags.

Some 30 communities in western Alaska, including the hub town of Bethel, have plastic bag bans.

There are 82 communities in the Lower 48 that ban plastic bags; in California there are 41 cities and seven counties with the ban in place. Other major cities with a ban include Austin, Texas, and Seattle, Wash. More than half of the bans in the nation have been put on the books this year.

Read more, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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