Indeed, a great relief of this law being passed to control the menace of plastic. On 27 April, the New York governor signed a law stating the ban on single use plastic bags. Estimation says that, the city uses 23 billion plastic bags every year with 50 percent of those plastic bags ending up in landfills and around the city and waterways.
"Throughout New York State, plastic bags have become a ubiquitous sight on the landscape. They can be seen stuck in trees, as litter in our neighborhoods, floating in our waterways and as a general aesthetic eyesore of our environment. Single-use plastic bags are a detriment to the health of communities and the environment alike," was quoted according to the report.
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Governor Cuomo inscribed on the legislation on Earth Day, which will be implemented in next March. The law will be enacted in the New York State Plastic Bag Task Force in March of 2017. The enforced task is done to resolve long-term solution to the plastic bag problem in the state. The conclusive report will be performed soon.
The great enactment would solve the difficulty of plastic bags in York landfills and waterways as well as abolish 12 million barrels of oil used to make plastic bags used by New York each year.
From the fee, 3 cents will go to the Environmental Protection Fund and 2 cents will go to the locality to pay for the distribution of reusable bags. This city is the third to ban completely plastic bags after California and Hawaii which is an influential step to protect the environment and care for the earth. However, work is being done to reduce its impact on low income families. Now on a charge of five percent would be charged against each single use paper bag adding investment to the environment protection fund.
The Environmental Protection Agency evaluated that 80 percent of the plastic found in oceans originates from land and that by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in our oceans than fish.
In 2014, it was approximated that the United States used 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags with the average American family using 1,500 single-use plastic bags each year. The big apple often known for its wealth and resources would now to proud to take an effective measure to protect the environment.