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Roanoke council allocates disposable bag tax to cleanup, reusable bags and climate programs
Summary
Council approved a budget ordinance to appropriate plastic bag tax revenue for litter mitigation, reusable-bag distribution (priority to SNAP/WIC users), education, recycling work and possible pilot programs; council discussed how much of the 5¢ fee is retained by retailers and potential uses like composting pilots.
The Roanoke City Council on Dec. 1 adopted a budget ordinance to appropriate revenue from Virginia's disposable plastic bag tax for environmental cleanup, reusable-bag programs and education.
Leanne Weitzenfeld, the city's sustainability coordinator, told the council the program will prioritize durable reusable bags for SNAP and WIC recipients, support litter-mitigation and recycling efforts, expand climate and department training, and explore fleet decarbonization and events waste reduction. "Nothing we use for five minutes should tarnish future generations," Weitzenfeld said in explaining the environmental and health rationale for the funding.
Council members pressed staff on how much of the 5¢ fee is retained by stores and whether state law requires that portion. The meeting record shows council members were told that a portion of the fee has been retained by retailers under state code in previous implementations and that staff would research whether local options exist to change that distribution.
Members also raised program suggestions for the revenue, including pilot composting partnerships with Star City Compost and other recycling education measures. Councilors voiced support for the program's behavior-change objective even as some questioned whether the municipal share of the fee is always sufficient to incentivize retailer behavior.
The clerk called the roll and the ordinance was adopted unanimously. Council also recognized Clean Valley Council for recycling and community cleanup work during the discussion.
Next steps staff said include finalizing program details for the spending plan and returning to council with any legal clarifications about store-retained portions of the fee.
