VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A plan to charge supermarket buyers in Virginia Beach 5 cents per plastic bag is dividing opinions.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, local officials are caught between their desire to preserve the environment and their desire to avoid placing an undue burden on residents in the form of another tax.
The challenge of reaching a consensus was brought to light at a council meeting on August 23, when a consultant reported the outcome of recent meetings about reducing the use of plastic bags with representatives from the retail industry, environmental advocates, and residents. The meetings were about the topic of reducing the use of plastic bags.
According to Mary Jo Burchard of Concord Solutions, all of them agreed that this was an important problem that needed to be solved, but they disagreed on the strategy that should be used.
