EASTON — As the Easton Town Council is divided over a proposal to eliminate the town’s 10 cent fee for paper bags, some local business owners are voicing that requiring the fee limits their ability to make decisions for their businesses.
The law establishing the fee, which was put in place after Easton banned the use of plastic bags, requires that businesses charge customers 10 cents for every paper bag used. The idea was to encourage the use of reusable bags.
Some members of the Town Council presented an ordinance to remove the fee at the council’s Sept. 3 meeting.
Business owners are divided in their stances on the fee. Some like it, as in reality a paper bag costs them more than 10 cents, and the law helps them to recuperate some of those costs. Others think charging a customer at the end of their purchase is bad for business. Several have said they feel they should be able to choose whether or not to impose the fee.
Joe Petro owns Hair of the Dog Liquors on Marlboro Avenue.
“I don’t think the 10 cents is a necessary cost to the consumer, especially in this day and age,” Petro said. “From a retail perspective, we already factor the cost of the bag into doing business. To pass that on to the customer — everyone is getting hit over their head with price increases everywhere they go. I think it is ridiculous.”
As a businessman, he finds the rule invasive.
“If I want to give someone a paper bag as a retailer, why can’t I just give them a bag? Why do I have to charge them 10 cents?” he asked. “If I give them a bag, it is my understanding of the law that I could be charged or fined for not charging 10 cents.”
But Petro said he can see both sides of the issue.
“One thing good about it is it has made a lot of customers say ‘I will just take it and walk out with it.’ But say someone comes in and spends $500 on a bunch of really expensive wine or booze, and then I am going to charge them 10 cents on top of that. It is kind of ridiculous,” he said.
There is another business owner who has given up on paper altogether.
“I don’t think the environmental impact providing paper or plastic isn’t going to do justice. It is either all or none. What we are doing with reusable bags is essentially passing on the cost to our consumer,” said Eat Sprout owner Ryan Groll.
He also noted the economics of scale, with large business often getting a better deal on purchasing these bags because of the number they purchase at a time. Profitability is further from reach for small business, he said.
“We want to continue to do the right thing, so we buy the reusable bags. We buy 3,000 to 4,000 at time, sometimes 6,000 to 10,000 at a time. In order for us to get these bags at the price we are selling, for $1.50, do the math. As a small business, we have to fork out $12,000 to $15,000 of upfront expense,” Groll said.
As far as the 10 cent ban on paper bags, he is thoughtful about the goals of that policy.
“What are we trying to incentivize? Are we trying to eliminate it? Or are we trying to punish people for taking a single use bag. You should, I think, give the business the chance to choose whether or not they want to charge for a bag. I don’t charge people to use my WiFi,” Groll said.
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