MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)- Thick plastic bags will no longer be available at Mount Pleasant stores starting Wednesday as the town furthers its ban on single-use plastics.
Town leaders voted in April to ban thick plastic bags, like those found at Walmart and Target, expanding a 2018 ordinance that prohibited businesses from using plastic bags, straws, and styrofoam containers.
The amended language was designed to crack down on national retailers skirting local rules, Brownstein added.
“What we found was a lot of our local retailers immediately complied with the [2018] ordinance but we found a lot of the national, big box stores..they shifted to this thicker plastic bag,” Councilmember Daniel Brownstein said.
While the heavy-duty bags are technically considered reusable — the plastics industry claims they can be reused up to 125 times — Brownstein said they are typically only used once.
“In practice, most people end up tossing them in the trash because they’re not recyclable,” he said.