WHEREAS plastic bag use has mushroomed in North America and Western Europe with four to five trillion of them produced in 2002, ranging from large trash bags to thick shopping totes to flimsy grocery sacks; AND WHEREAS after being discarded, many plastic bags litter our environment and end up in waterways and, ultimately, the ocean where they impact the health of marine life; AND WHEREAS every year more than 6 million tons of rubbish is dumped into the worlds oceans and it is estimated that there are over 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean; AND WHEREAS in March 2002, the Government of Ireland imposed a 15 cent tax on each bag to control the countrys consumption of 1.2 billion plastic shopping bags per year The consumer was charged at check out and behaviour changed immediately. and the tax resulted in a 90 to 95 percent drop in consumption and more than a billion fewer bags consumed annually; AND WHEREAS the so called PlasTax also raised 9.6 million dollars in its final year that the Irish Government earmarked for a green fund for waste management and environmental initiatives Retailers in Ireland, many of whom are now selling reusable bags, are also happy since they were spending 50 million a year on single-use bags before the tax.; AND WHEREAS more dramatically, approximately 18 million litres of oil have been saved due to reduced production of plastic bags These bags start as crude oil, natural gas or other petrochemical derivatives. They are transformed into chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules known as polymers or polymer resin. After being heated, shaped and cooled, the plastic is ready to be flattened, sealed, punched or printed on: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the provincial and federal governments to impose a PlasTax on plastic bags similar to the Government of Ireland.
