“Pitch in on plastic” Feb. 25, 2010
Re “Plastic bags linger as Richmond dithers,” editorial, Feb. 16:
What The Pilot failed to recognize in its critique of lawmakers for failing to ban plastic bags is that there are alternatives to these more extreme measures. The Retail Alliance, in conjunction with Isle of Wight County, the commonwealth and private sector partners including Farm Fresh, launched a voluntary plastic bag recycling project last year, which has been met with great success. We have been able to establish a network of plastic bag recycling stations throughout the county and distributed thousands of reusable grocery bags. The result: More than three tons of bags have been collected for recycling by Trex, a Virginia-based company that utilizes plastic bags to manufacture composite lumber. This market-based program can be easily duplicated throughout Virginia, without resorting to bans, penalties and other more extreme remedies, which only isolates retailers and fails to address other sources of plastic pollution. During the 1970s, those seeking to reduce littering asked America to “pitch in.” In Isle of Wight, we have done just that, and we are very much available to help anyone else who would like to do the same.
BY: Susan L. Milhoan President and CEO, Retail Alliance Norfolk