Oneida County opts out of charging residents paper-bag fee

“While I agree that plastic bags have a negative impact on our environment, I will not charge the residents of Oneida County what amounts to yet another state tax to use paper bags,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. said in a news release. “Especially not when the state is dictating how we have to spend our portion of the money and they can do with theirs as they please. It’s unfair and shortsighted and I will not be a part of it.”

As part of the plastic-bag ban, state lawmakers included an option for counties to opt in to a five-cent fee on paper bags. Three cents of that revenue will go to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, and New York counties will get the remaining two cents for use in providing free reusable bags for low-income residents.

New York’s ban on plastic bags is set to begin in March 2020. It will forbid stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags. The measure allows for exceptions that include food takeout bags that restaurants use; bags used to wrap deli and meat-counter products; and bags for bulk items, per the news release.

“Every proposal coming from Albany cannot come on the backs of local taxpayers,” Picente added. “If we are to truly improve our environment, everyone in Oneida County should have access to free reusable bags. That’s why through our partnership with the Oneida County Public Market and other community partners such as the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority, we are working on a way to do just that.”          

Oneida County Public Market and the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority provided hundreds of free reusable bags that were handed out to market patrons during Saturday’s announcement, per the news release.

“Waste reduction should be our primary focus,” William Rabbia, executive director of the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority, said in the news release. “We need to reduce single-use plastics. The best alternative is changing our habits and utilizing reusable items such as reusable grocery bags. “

“While we see the global impact of our disposable societies on evening news broadcasts, we truly can change what we see happening at that level by making environmentally-friendly decisions in our own lives each and every day,” Beth Irons, manager of the Oneida County Public Market, said in the news release. “One small step, using reusable grocery bags and totes, can make a difference, if we do it together.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com