Lexington County’s proposed plastic bag ban has been shelved.

The ban has already been enacted in many coastal SC communities due to the bags’ hazards to wildlife and human health. County Councilman Darrell Hudson of Lexington said the ban was shelved for several reasons:

• It lacked enough council support.

• Many retailers are already offering paper bags.

• Other retailers say they can’t afford the additional cost of paper bags. Many local grocers now have bins for customers to return the bags for recycling. Lexington County would have joined 17 other SC counties and towns in banning single-use plastic bags. Supporters of the ban say discarded bags pollute road sides, lakes, rivers and the ocean.

They take 20 generations to disintegrate, scientists estimate.

The bags are “convenience” items used an average of 12 minutes and then thrown away, according to Caroline Bradner of the Coastal Conservation League.

Unless properly discarded, the bags can end up as tiny particles in drinking water, obstructions in storm drains and enormous ocean trash rafts.

“Just because it was taken off the agenda does not mean it is not a topic of discussion,” Hudson said.