Plastic waste is becoming a massive public cost. According to PennDOT, the state spends $13 million a year just to clean up roadside litter, and that does not include the millions spent to clean plastic bags out of stormwater and sewage overflows.
And yet, instead of doing something to tackle this harmful and expensive pollution, our state government is standing in the way of progress. The Pennsylvania Legislature in May passed another measure blocking local governments from taking action to limit the use of single-use plastics.
This is a problem for several reasons, but mainly because the state is limiting the decisions that local elected officials have the right to make. Many cities across Pennsylvania have planned to limit single-use plastic use, but are now forced to stop those efforts.
If a municipality decides that it does not want to spend taxpayer dollars on picking up litter or cleaning out storm drains clogged with plastic bags, then it should be allowed to address the expensive plastic waste problem. I am disappointed that the state has decided to limit local power to address plastics waste for the second year in a row.
Hudson Wagner
Washington, Pa.