Voters for Animal Rights’ comment on 6 NYCRR Part 351 Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling
Voters for Animal Rights (VFAR), representing more than 60,000 humane voters in New York, submits this comment on the proposed regulations to New York’s plastic bag ban law, and urges the DEC not to alter or water down this law, the strongest in the nation, targeting the reduction of film plastic pollution.
Of special concern to us is the effect plastic bags have on marine life, birds and other wildlife. By some estimates, 100,000 marine animals (including whales, seals, turtles and fish) die from plastic bag entanglement every year.1 Additionally, marine animals mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them. Once ingested, these non-biodegradable bags cannot be digested or passed through their system. Therefore, they remain in the stomach where they accumulate over time resulting in intestinal blockage. Because they provide no nutrients, these animals eventually die from malnutrition, according to the United Nations. Approximately 1 million sea birds also die from plastic bags in the same ways.
A single plastic bag can kill numerous animals because they take so long to disintegrate.
Exempting thicker bags could prove even more fatal to wildlife as the shorter handles made of harder plastic as well as the finger holes will likely lead to an increase in birds, turtles, and other animals being strangled. Ingesting thicker plastic will lead to increased gastrointestinal issues and, therefore, an increased number of deaths.
VFAR cannot stress enough how vital the plastic bag ban is to the health and safety of our wildlife and we urge you to leave the law as it was intended without any of the proposed regulations. Thank you for your time.
1 Business Insider, Scientists have a new way to estimate how often ocean animals get tangled in plastic — and it could explain why so many whales are washing up dead (April 17, 2019) https://www.businessinsider.com/amount-of-plastic-in-the-atlantic-has-gone-up-in-the-last-60-years-2019-4