The Georgia Chemistry Council this week announced its opposition to legislation under consideration by the Fulton County Commission to ban “single use plastics” at county facilities.
Single use plastics are commonly used for packaging and intended for use only once before they are thrown away or recycled.
Sydney Rubin, director of government relations for the chemistry council, said its members are committed to ending disposal of plastic waste in the environment, but bans on single-use plastics “often do not result in desired outcomes and alternatives to plastics can result in even more damage to the environment than common plastic materials.”
Studies have shown that alternatives to single-use plastics can almost double the cost of packaging.
“This legislation has the potential to either force the county to absorb these costs into its existing budget or increase its budget and pass on the additional expenses to consumers and taxpayers,” Rubin added.
“We respectfully request that the Fulton County Commission table this ordinance and work with the plastics industry and other stakeholders on alternative legislation that will tackle the real issue – recycling,” she said.
Many members of industry have been active in helping Fulton County address the recycling issue, by contributing to a grant to CHaRM, which stands for the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials.
“CHaRM is a permanent drop-off facility that encourages re-use by diverting thousands of pounds of household hazardous waste, bulky trash and other hard to recycle materials from Metro-Atlanta landfills and water systems,” Rubin said.
Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann moved to hold the item “to prevent unintended consequences.”
“The issue is important, and all of us support reducing pollution and promoting a healthy environment,” she told InsiderAdvantage. “However, acting too quickly would result in negative consequences. Over the next few weeks, we will work with industry leaders and review legislation passed by other counties and municipalities to perfect our initiative. In addition, Fulton County is focused on recycling all plastic products that are used in our facilities.”
