Wow! A new
development hits Hawaii and it promises to create a healthier environment for
the people. It is operation eradicate the
plastic!
I hope
Nigerians learn from this… we need to extricate all forms plastic bags from in
Nigeria too.
Read the
news from Mashable
Oahu has
just joined the rest of the Hawaiian Islands in enforcing a ban on plastic
bags, making Hawaii the first state in the union to fully prohibit them.
Effective
next Wednesday, businesses in Oahu will no longer be allowed to offer plastic
or other non-recyclable bags to customers. That applies to any carryout bag
given out by retailers to customers that is made from non-compostable materials
and not specifically designed for re-use.
However, the
ban has a number of loopholes. It doesn't apply to bags used for fruits,
vegetables, nuts, meat or fish, flowers or potted plants, takeout bags at
restaurants, or newspaper bags used for home deliveries, among other
exemptions.
Retailers
can implement the ban by instead providing acceptable bags, such as:
Compostable
plastic bags (which meet compostability standards by having a Biodegradable
Product Institute (BPI) logo or having “compostable” on both sides of the bag)
Recyclable
paper bags (must be 100 percent recyclable, contain a minimum of forty percent
post-consumer recycled content, and visibly displays the words
"recyclable" and "reusable")
reusable
bags (made with cloth, other washable or durable material)
The City's
Department of Environmental Services will implement and enforce the island's ban,
and businesses that don't comply are subject to hefty fines of $100 to $1,000
per day of violation. The ban is being enforced by Hawaii's four separate
County Councils.
The plastic
bag ban first hit the Hawaiian islands when Maui implemented a ban in 2011,
quickly followed by Kauai in the same year, and Hawaii County in 2013.
California
is considering a similar ban, which is already in effect in cities such as San
Francisco. A law to outlaw plastic bags in the Golden state has been put on
hold pending a ballot measure in November 2016.
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