In a major setback to efforts to ban plastic bags, Arizona lawmakers have made it illegal for cities to impose bag bans through a recent legislation.
Arizona Retailers Association and the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, which represents brands including Safeway, Kroger, Circle K and QuickTrip, backed the bill, reports Associated Press.
Lawmakers supporting the legislation questioned the need to bring in ban in Arizona.
Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, who represents the city of Fountain Hills east of Phoenix said: "We really don't need to do this in Arizona because we don't have the crisis in landfills and litter that other areas do."
He further added that plastic and Styrofoam are cheaper options and are also more hygienic than paper products.
With this vote, state lawmakers have come one more step closer to curtailing the freedom of local government. Cities in Arizona are already forbidden from hiking minimum wages and enacting taxes or regulations on firearms, and were also recently made to pull back from banning Styrofoam containers and other disposable products.
This is not limited to Arizona alone, with other conservative states also making similar moves to ban plastic bag bans. Florida has already made it illegal for municipalities to ban plastic bags, and similar legislation is being considered in Missouri and Texas, adds the Associated Press.
California is also looking at repealing the plastic bag ban.
But the cities plan to fight back. Flagstaff and Tempe in Arizona are considering taking legal action against the state.
Meanwhile business groups argue that the bans are unjustified as plastic products can be made with a smart polymer, called oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is easily recyclable and will not last for decades in contrast to the conventional plastic.
Plastic bags made with this polymer will degrade into a non-toxic material, and would be absorbed by microorganisms in the same way as a leaf, add the groups.
Image: Lawmakers block attempts to ban plastic bags. Photo: courtesy of winnond/freedigitalphotos.net.
