{"id":543302,"date":"2026-03-25T00:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T00:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543302\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T00:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T00:18:18","slug":"environmental-council-proposes-single-use-plastic-ban-for-middletown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543302\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Council Proposes Single-Use Plastic Ban For Middletown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>File photo.<\/p>\n

Middletown Township officials are evaluating a proposal from the Environmental Advisory Council to ban single-use plastics.<\/p>\n

The recommendation was presented as a recent policy discussion at the March Middletown Township Board of Supervisors meeting. <\/p>\n

The council suggested phasing out plastic bags, polystyrene food containers, and single-use utensils. <\/p>\n

If an ordinance is approved and adopted, Middletown Township would join 40 Pennsylvania municipalities with similar measures, including neighbors Newtown Borough and Newtown Township.<\/p>\n

The proposal came from the township\u2019s 2021 Climate Action Plan, which prioritized plastic waste reduction. <\/p>\n

According to Environmental Advisory Council research, Middletown Township residents generate roughly 4,000 tons of plastic waste annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cSingle-use plastics are used for minutes but persist for centuries,\u201d said Environmental Advisory Council member Kevin Deeney.<\/p>\n

Deeney cited studies from Penn Environment and the U.S. Geological Survey that found microplastics in every sample taken from more than 50 regional lakes and streams. <\/p>\n

Advertisements<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Deeney noted that drinking water intakes drawing from surface water, including on the Delaware River or Neshaminy Creek, were not designed to filter out plastic particles.<\/p>\n

The Environmental Advisory Council spent two years researching ordinances and looked at data that found that microplastics have been detected in human bloodstreams and organs, including the brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the waste will be around for a long time,\u201d Deeney said. \u201cWhat we don\u2019t yet know is what all of the health impacts of that will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Environmental Advisory Council, plastic bags are Identified as a primary target because they cannot be recycled through the township\u2019s waste management system and often litter parks and waterways.<\/p>\n

Polystyrene, which is commonly known as Styrofoam, containers are not accepted for recycling and typically end up in landfills or as litter.<\/p>\n

Single-use utensils, including straws, stirrers, and cutlery, are what Deeney described as items \u201cused for literally minutes and then tossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The township\u2019s twice-yearly cleanup efforts regularly collect plastic waste from parks, roadways, and storm drains. <\/p>\n

During the county\u2019s Lake Luxembourg\u2019s conservation project a few years back, crews removed accumulated plastic products that had settled in the lake bed and surrounding areas over decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pull it out of storm drains, we pull it off the side of the roads, we load up the plastic bags, and they\u2019re hauled away and ultimately landfilled or incinerated,\u201d Deeney explained.<\/p>\n

Environmental Advisory Council Chairperson Lauren Lareau pointed to a study published in the journal Science which found that plastic bag policies lead to a 25 percent to 47 percent reduction of those bags in the environment.<\/p>\n

Public comment on the proposal was mixed. <\/p>\n

Resident Mike Morris, who initially wasn\u2019t a fan of single-use plastic bans at stores, spoke in favor of the measure, noting the importance of public education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can put a dent in this, we can be part of the leading crowd,\u201d Morris said. \u201cBan it with education behind you, and then the public will support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resident Lance Eggers questioned the local impact of the ban and raised concerns regarding individual decision making and environmental trade-offs, including the energy required to produce paper alternatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless we\u2019re going to start controlling other countries, then what Middletown Township does with plastics isn\u2019t going to make a dent in our oceans,\u201d Eggers said.<\/p>\n

Township Manager Eden Ratliff said staff must still investigate the impact on local businesses, enforcement mechanisms, and notification processes. <\/p>\n

To assist in exploring the topic, the township has secured a fellow from Laos through an International City Management Association program to study the full-cycle impacts of plastic policies at no cost to the municipality, Ratliff said.<\/p>\n

The supervisors did not take a vote and will continue reviewing the proposal and gathering data before deciding whether to develop a formal ordinance.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Sofield<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Sofield has covered news in Bucks County for 16 years for both newspaper and online publications. Tom\u2019s reporting has appeared locally, nationally, and internationally across several mediums. He is proud to report on news in the county where he lives and to have created a reliable publication that the community deserves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"File photo. Middletown Township officials are evaluating a proposal from the Environmental Advisory Council to ban single-use plastics.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-543302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}