NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Businesses in North Myrtle Beach are preparing to phase out their plastic bags for reusable ones after the city passed its single-use plastic bag ban Monday night.
“It’s going to affect us, it’s going to affect our customers, it’s going to affect the cost, and we are going to have to do our research to find out what’s best for us and what’s best for our customers,” Simon Ohayon, owner of Kings at the Beach said.
While the store hasn’t found a replacement for their plastic bags, they have a solution to keep costs down.
“It’s going to cost us more. It’s obvious to find bags that are environmentally sound or reusable bags but all those costs will pass down to the consumer, so things will get a little more expensive,” Ohayon said.
The city of North Myrtle Beach says if businesses don’t comply, they could be fined up to $500, and store owners could even go to jail, however, city officials want to educate businesses before punishing them.
“The manner in which you promote this to people; if you just say we’re going to punish you if you do x, people are going to react and bow up, but if you say work with us in order to achieve this. It’s good for our environment, which also attracts new business to our area, people will work to comply with that,” Pat Dowling, spokesperson for North Myrtle Beach said.
Ultimately, some store owners think the plastic bag ban will be a good thing for North Myrtle Beach.
“I didn’t think that a small town like North Myrtle Beach would be ahead of a lot of other big cities in this country as far as bags are concerned but sooner than later it will be everywhere, so better sooner than later,” Ohayon said.
The plastic bag ban will prohibit retailers in North Myrtle Beach from using single-use plastic bags beginning January 1, 2021.
