North Carolina starts plastic bottle ban

October 1 is the start of banning plastic bottle waste in North Carolina's landfills along with clean wood waste, e-waste, wooden pallets and motor vehicle oil filter.

With plastic bottles, the law encourages people to recycling instead, said Raleigh City officials. Raleigh residents, they said, can put the plastic bottles in their City-issued recycling bins.

"This is a wonderful new law," Linda Leighton, waste reduction specialist for the City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services Department, said of the new law. "A great number of our residents would willingly comply and keep plastic bottles out of the landfill, if we make them aware of the new law."

The goal of Raleigh's Solid Waste Department is to increase that number to 451 pounds per year by 2012. Currently the average Raleigh resident recycles 384 pounds each year, said Leighton.

"The ban on placing plastic bottles in the landfill should help."

Speaking of plastics, here is a list of cities where plastic bags are mandated to be recycled. I'm not sure if this list also includes places that tax plastic bags.

1. San Francisco, Calif., bag ban (2007)
2. Malibu, Calif. (2008)
3. Maui County, Hawaii (2008)
4. Westport, Conn. (2008)
5. Fairfax, Calif. (2008)
6. Palo Alto, Calif. (2009)
7. North Carolina Outer Banks (Currituck, Dare and Hyde Counties) (2009)
8. Edmonds, Wash. (2009)
9. Bethel, Alaska (2009)
10. District of Columbia (2009)