CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Horry County could be next to ban single-use plastic bags. A county committee, Keep Horry County Beautiful is conducting a survey to get the public’s opinion on a potential plastic bag ban.
“It’s an idea who’s time has come to get rid of the single-use plastic bags,” County councilman, Johnny Vaught said.
Vaught says not only are plastic bags bad for the environment, but they also make the county’s Material Recycling Facility less efficient, which costs the taxpayers more in the long run.
“You’ll see them blowing all over the place out there. What happens is when we try to run them through the recycler, they’re so thin and flimsy, they gum up the works basically, and every couple of hours we have to tear the machines down and pull all those things out and then send them back through again or try to bundle them up,” Vaught said.
While some Horry County leaders are on board to ban plastic bags, it could impact local businesses like the Grab ‘n Go convenience store in Socastee.
“I don’t think the customers will like it very much just because paper bags tend to tear if you’ve got a big order, and we do grocery and just little stuff, so some people may come in and get just some little things, some people come in and get groceries so that would be cumbersome in a big paper bag,” Jennifer Alexander, a cashier at the Grab ‘n Go said.
Most of the bags the Grab ‘n Go uses are made out of plastic. However, employees say they are open to the idea of finding a feasible replacement should Horry County bans single-use plastic bags.
“I like this system, but you have to adapt and grow I guess, so as long as the customers are happy, I’m happy,” Alexander said.
“We’ve got to look out for the future, we’ve got to look out for what will happen to all these plastic bags when they get out there, and we’ve got to be more responsible than we’re being with our environment,” Vaught said.
To take Keep Horry County Beautiful’s survey, click here.
