Jan 20 - Austin, TX Moves Closer to Finalizing Bag Ordinance Language
The City of Austin continues to move towards a single-use bag ordinance. If successful, the current version of the ordinance would be strongest passed in the state thus far. See other local bag ordinances in Texas and the rest of the country here.
Since last year, several versions of draft ordinance have been discussed. The latest version reviewed by the City, according to this article, would require a 10 cent price requirement on each single-use plastic and paper bag used from March 2013 to March 2014. After that, single-use bags would be banned from distribution.
Ban opponents are pushing to increase recycling efforts instead of banning plastic bags. But we know recycling isn’t the solution. In California, several years after a state-mandated recycling program went into effect placing collection bins in stores throughout the state, the recycling rate for single-use plastic bags is only 3%.
Austin City Council members are expected to see another draft of the ordinance at the end of this month, and could possibly make a decision as early as March.