The [Solebury] board of supervisors on Tuesday [June 21, 2022] voted unanimously to approve an ordinance banning single-use carry-out plastic bags, polystyrene food containers and single-use plastic straws in the township's commercial establishments.

 

While instituting a ban on single-use plastics, the ordinance promotes the use of reusable bags and establishes a charge of 10 cents for certain types of acceptable bags at the point of sale.

 

"This has been carefully considered by the EAC (Environmental Advisory Council) over a long period of time. We have gone through a number of iterations and the recommendation was made to move this forward," said Supervisor John Francis, the liaison to the EAC. "We looked at a lot of consequences that this may bring up. We also compared the ordinance to others in neighboring towns and in New Jersey. We're pretty confident that we have covered all the bases."

 

The ordinance is aimed at encouraging consumers and commercial establishments within the township to help reduce the use and environmental impact of single-use plastics by promoting the use of reusable bags, utilizing alternatives to single-use plastic straws, training employees to ask customers first before providing a single-use plastic item, and substituting other biodegradable products for polystyrene food containers.

 

Ordinance states: “Beginning 180 days after the effective date of this Ordinance, Commercial Establishments are prohibited from providing Single-Use Plastic Straws or Polystyrene Food Containers to a customer, patron, or user of the Commercial Establishment under any circumstance, unless subject to an exemption.”

 

Find the ordinance here: https://ecode360.com/SO1688/laws/LF1580940.pdf