News Release

New York City Grocery Tax Hurts Families and the Environment

$100 Million Tax Would Increase Food Costs
 and Kill New Recycling Effort 

New York, NY (January 30, 2009) – Today, New York City went from first to worst in its plastic bag policy by proposing an $100 million tax on plastic grocery bags.  At a time of rising unemployment, when working families are struggling to put food on the table, the administration has chosen to add more cost to New Yorkers’ grocery bills.  The proposed policy would not only burden hardworking New Yorkers, it would hobble the landmark plastic bag recycling law that New York City enacted last year.   

While the mayor’s proposal would be a costly burden to New York’s working families, it would also derail the city’s new recycling program that for several months has helped remove plastic bags from the waste stream and enabled this material to be made into useful new products such as railings, fencing, park benches and new bags.

New York City would be the only major U.S. city to charge its residents a tax on grocery bags.  While other geographies have considered the policy, it has been rejected for the potential economic and environmental harm it could inflict.  Assessments of a similar tax on plastic grocery bags in Ireland show that although the use of these bags has declined 90 percent, overall, the use of plastic bags actually has risen – only at a cost to consumers.  Now consumers purchase new plastic bags instead of simply reusing their grocery bags.  In the United States, studies show that 92 percent of households reuse their plastic bags.

“With skyrocketing unemployment, the Mayor’s proposal to add more costs to the grocery bills of New York’s working families couldn’t come at a worse time.  Unfortunately, New York residents would bear the burden of higher costs for programs that would not help the environment,” said Sharon Kneiss, Vice President of Products Divisions for the American Chemistry Council. 

Taxes on plastic bags don’t make sense for the environment.  The overwhelming majority of states and cities that have looked at this issue have concluded that recycling is the sound solution for reducing waste and controlling litter.  Cities and states – from Austin and California to New York and Rhode Island – are moving to plastic bag recycling as the practical environmental solution.  In the United States, plastic bags and film recycling increased by 24 percent in 2006, reaching a record high of 812 million pounds. 

The facts are absolutely clear – plastic bags are an environmentally responsible choice.  Plastics are too valuable to waste; they should be recycled.

Learn more about plastic bags.