College student urges borough to ban single-use plastic bags; council puts item on next agenda

A University of Pittsburgh student addressed New Freedom Borough Council during the public comment period to propose banning single-use disposable plastic grocery and takeout bags in the borough and to require retailers to charge 5 to 10¢ for paper bags to offset costs.

Eva, introduced as "Ryan Ross's oldest child" and an environmental-science junior at the University of Pittsburgh, told council that roughly 500 billion plastic bags are used globally each year and that plastic bags persist in landfills and waterways, eventually fragmenting into microplastics that enter the food chain. She described municipal bag bans in other localities and said eight states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont) have statewide bans.

Eva suggested the borough require businesses to stop distributing single-use plastic bags and to permit stores to charge 5–10¢ per paper bag, with that fee retained by the business to offset higher costs for paper. She said local retailers’ paper-bag costs vary widely and that most businesses do not report severe economic hardship when jurisdictions adopt bans.

Council president (Kim) responded that the council would place the matter on the next month’s agenda for discussion with counsel. No ordinance text or binding action was proposed at the meeting.

Outcome: Council agreed to add a discussion item to a future agenda so the proposal can be examined by counsel and considered formally at a subsequent meeting.