A.
The Township Committee of the Township of Maplewood finds and declares as follows:
(1)
That the chemical composition and ability of a substance to degrade are meaningful and useful criteria to focus upon when establishing public policy that is intended to improve the management and disposal of solid waste, reduce the cumulative impact of litter, encourage composting and other forms of recycling, minimize the potential for toxic substances to form if solid waste is burned, reduce the volume of ash by-products that may be created by any burning of waste-plastic packaging and otherwise anticipate environmental problems that may be caused by a municipal solid waste disposal program.
(2)
That the widespread use of plastics, especially polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, poses a threat to the environment by causing unnecessary taking of landfill space or, when incinerated, by the possible introduction of toxic by-products into the atmosphere.
(3)
That the economic and environmental problems associated with a mixed-substance waste stream are so severe that a program to modify the composition of solid waste, thereby reducing environmental hazards and toxicity associated with solid waste incineration, encouraging the composting of putrescible biodegradable wastes and encouraging other forms of recycling of solid waste substances, is hereby determined to be a policy goal of the Township of Maplewood.
(4)
That certain retail establishments within Maplewood are points of origin for a volume of packaging waste and, therefore, are particularly susceptible to actions which have significant potential for simplifying the composition of this portion of Maplewood's solid waste stream, thereby improving solid waste management within this township.
(5)
That the use of polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride for food packaging is problematical because neither of these plastics are readily recyclable; that their abundant commercial use in lieu of other plastics, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, unnecessarily complicates the overall chemical composition of municipal waste and subtracts from the possible emergence of a viable plastic recycling market; and that, if burned together, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride leave a relatively heavier and therefore more expensive ash residue to dispose of, which may also create dioxin, hydrochloric acid or other toxic chemicals that could be emitted into the general environment of the Township of Maplewood once burned in the resource recovery facility now under construction.
(6)
That there are readily available plastic and/or paper product substitutes for most of the polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride retail food packaging now being used in the Township of Maplewood, the use of which alternatives would be environmentally and economically advantageous to the public of the Township of Maplewood.
(7)
That plastic bags in the waste stream constitute an impediment to the development of efficient waste separation, recycling or other waste management programs and are less desirable than paper bags because plastic bags are neither recyclable nor compostable.
(8)
That plastic bags used by retail establishments selling food constitute the largest single retail source of plastic bags in the waste stream.
B.
Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is, to the maximum extent practicable, to eliminate the use of nondegradable packaging originating at retail establishments within the Township of Maplewood in order to protect the air, land and waters of the Township of Maplewood against environmental contamination and degradation.