Why do plastic bags cost so much to dispose of?
Plastic bags are gigantic problem at a MRF (Material Recovery Facility). The plastic bags get caught in the sorting plates of the machinery and every night several workers have to cut out the bags. Taxpayers pay for that cost. Additionally, those plastic bags clogging the machine mean that the final product emerging from the MRF has higher contamination levels and is thus of a lower quality. The market pays less for lower quality product and more for higher quality product. Right now the high cost of picking up and disposing of plastic bags is about 17 times the store cost of distributing them. Taxpayers are footing that bill. And as Austin is presently designing a new MRF that will come on line at the end of 2008, it’s more important now than ever that we address the problems posed by plastic bags.
