If Isle of Wight can't ban plastic bags, they'll recycle

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

More than a year after county officials talked about an all-out ban on plastic bags, they are launching a less-severe program aimed at encouraging consumers to recycle.

Starting today, residents will find special bins for plastic bag disposal at three county dump sites. The bins will take "all plastic film that is clean, clear and dry," said Rachel Chieppa, the county's rural economic development manager.

That includes plastic dry-cleaning covers, newspaper bags, and the plastic wrapping around packages of toilet paper and paper towels, in addition to grocery sacks.

The bins themselves are made out of recycled plastic bags. Trex Co., a Winchester company that makes lumber materials out of recycled plastic and wood, donated the bins to Isle of Wight. The county probably will sell back to Trex the recycled plastic it collects, Chieppa said.

The county has to bale all of the plastic and store it so it stays clean and dry. The baler costs about $6,000, and the county might have to spend an additional $10,000 to build a cement ramp to load the bales onto Trex's trailers.

The state granted Isle of Wight $28,000 toward its program, hoping it becomes a model for other Virginia communities that are concerned about bag proliferation.

Isle of Wight's program focuses on public education. The county has produced posters to alert consumers of the special recycling bins. Isle of Wight's five elementary schools plan to participate in a bag-recycling contest this year, and the one that collects the most bags will win a pizza party and a Trex bench, Chieppa said.

Isle of Wight embarked on the program in early 2008 after a county supervisor proposed a ban on plastic grocery bags, which were interfering with cotton production.

Retail representatives, farmers and other business leaders then formed a coalition to study the problem and come up with a solution.

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com