RICHMOND, Va. — Editor's note: The video above is about curbside recycling pick-up ending in Chesapeake. It aired on March 29, 2022.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ended what his office calls a “burdensome” restriction on single-use plastics at state agencies, colleges and universities.
The Republican governor signed an executive order Thursday rolling back a 2021 order from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam that instituted the plastics prohibition. It banned most disposable plastic bags, food service containers, water bottles, straws and cutlery at executive branch agencies.
Youngkin's order aims instead to encourage recycling. It also directs two state agencies to work with “large-scale suppliers of food” to identify ways to reduce food waste. And it asks a task force to examine ways to encourage new “recycling-related” businesses to locate in Virginia.
"Too often in the past, Virginia has been presented with a false choice between saving our environment and growing our economy. The growing market for post-consumer recyclables demonstrates that we can do both,” Youngkin said in a news release.
Coalition for Consumer Choices, a group representing small businesses, retailers, manufacturers and consumer advocates against the ban, said it supports Youngkin's order. The group said it documented "the extensive negative environmental, social, and economic impacts" of Northam's order.
The Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy organization, criticized the order as promoting "the false promise of recycling to reduce plastic waste."
"Youngkin’s decision to reverse the state’s plan to phase out single-use plastics is a clear step in the wrong direction that will result in irreversible damage," Kate West, director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, said in a news release.