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Officials cite millions fewer plastic bags in circulation; staff asked to reconcile report numbers
Summary
Chairman Walkinshaw and Chairman McKay highlighted multi‑million reductions in plastic bag counts since the bag tax was enacted; another supervisor asked staff to reconcile Clean Fairfax stream‑count methodology before public release.
Chairman (Supervisor) James Walkinshaw drew the committee’s attention to data he said show large reductions in plastic bag usage since the county’s bag tax took effect. Walkinshaw cited a comparison of January–July 2023 to January–July 2024 that he said showed 2,000,000 fewer plastic bags, and he suggested preliminary 2024 full‑year estimates could approach a reduction of 4,000,000 bags countywide.
Supervisor Herrity asked staff to return with reconciled data after reviewing Clean Fairfax’s reporting approach, noting staff had identified interpretive differences with the nonprofit’s annual report and asking for staff‑verified counts so the county does not publish incorrect information. Herrity said he wanted the staff analysis before numbers were broadly communicated.
Chairman McKay amplified the reduction claim in his closing remarks, stating there are "3,000,000 less plastic bags in circulation in Fairfax County" since the tax was implemented, and urged staff to present the clearest possible headline and data visualization to the public. Staff acknowledged the underlying counts are manual tallies from monitoring efforts and agreed to follow up with corrected figures and clarifications.
