HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.237 2010-2012 rl Cauwai
13[l 17, nn. 2
Barry K.Taniguchi
1163 50 E. Puainako Street,Hilo Hawaii 96720
K TA Phone(808)959-4575 ext 317,Fax(808)959-8050
E-mail: barry_taniguchi @ktasuperstores.com
SUPER STORES
December 5, 2011
Dominic Yagong, Chair
And Members of the Hawaii County Council
ca
Re: Plastic Bag Ban `�'eD
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Chair Yagong and Members of the County Council: -- <--4
KTA Super Stores is a small supermarket chain of six (6) stores operating on the Island of Hawes We r-
are committed to providing our customers the highest quality service and products in our stores iVe
are also committed to our environment and instituted our"Re-Use Bag" program a number of y 'rs a4g
in our attempt to reduce the use of both `one use" plastic and paper bags.
While we believe plastic bags do contribute negatively to our environment, we also believe that paper
bags also have a negative impact on our environment, and perhaps to some degree, to a larger extent
than that of plastic.
The basic problem we believe is consumer behavior. We need to promote recycling and proper
disposal of plastic products, not only of bags but also that of other packaging material. In the past, we
have supported the concept of"Waste to Energy" as a means of proper disposal of such plastic
products. We have encouraged the use of"Re-Use Bags"to minimize the use of both plastic and
paper bags. We have also urged proper education and systems.
We believe the County has not sufficiently investigated alternative means to promote proper
use and disposition of both plastic and paper packaging material. We urge you to conduct a
more intensive study of successful recycling and education systems in areas like Japan. I am
simply amazed that while the "Bottle Bill"was passed a number of years ago, both the State and
County governments are poor examples of promoting the recycling of such beverage containers. I very
rarely see proper receptacles in public areas to promote such behavior.
Eliminating plastic bags would require retailers and other vendors to incur additional expense to
maintain an adequate program for consumers to transport their purchases if they do not bring their own
"Re-Use Bags".
We are not anti-environment. We attempt to recycle tons of waste by backhauling shipping materials,
recycling wooden pallets, and baling cardboard boxes for recycling. This means that tons of trash is
NOT dumped into the landfill. Despite this, we are being targeted for not doing enough to help the
success of preserving the environment. We believe that the greater issue of recycling of all recyclable
products should be addressed.
Thank you for your consideration and for the opportunity to comment on this measure.
Barry K. Taniguchi
4,7 e
President Comm. 1;143 (t•Z3 I Ref. To:
r f Cd 4.ybU
Ref. Date DEC 2 1 2011