Plastic Bag Ban Banned: Pro-Plastic Philadelphia & ShopRite Protests?

City Council voted against the plastic bag ban the Committee on the Environment passed last week. According to Philly.com, Councilman Frank DiCicco’s bill was rejected by Council this morning in a 6-10 vote.

Word is that protesters such as ShopRite and the plastics industry lobbied against the bill, causing its demise. Opponents to the bill claimed that banning plastic bags would force many stores to use paper, which “has an even greater environmental impact.”  (this is debatable, but the eco-friendliest option is to BYO(re-usable)B.)

Mayor Nutter better get cracking on this if he wants Philadelphia to be an environmental pioneer – Other cities are ahead of us with similar bans.

Ironically, today is also Mark Alan’s Hughes last day as Director of Sustainability.

Posted by Julie

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher