Seattle may dump throwaway bags

SEATTLE -- - Conservation-mindful Seattlites know their garbage. They pack compost bins, fill yard waste carts, separate glass bottles and jars into tubs, and pack paper, cans and plastic jugs into oversize recycling containers. A city ordinance prohibits putting recyclables in the garbage.

Residents can be fined for tossing too much glass or paper in the trash. Low-cost city-issued rain barrels help homeowners reroute well-known Northwest drizzle.

So no shock greeted Seattle's latest eco-friendly proposal from Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin. It would impose a 20-cent "green fee" on all disposable shopping bags. It targets both paper and plastic bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores.

"The answer to the question 'paper or plastic' is neither: Both harm the environment," the mayor said in pushing for the citywide change.

The measure also would ban foam containers in the food service industry, such as restaurant plates, trays and cups and grocery stores' meat trays and egg cartons.

The response to the proposed green fee and ban on foam, announced April 2, has mostly been positive, Nickels said. .

"It sparked a good debate in grocery stores, and on blogs," the mayor said. "People are talking and bringing up good issues. We've got a good proposal."

Seattle goes through 360 million throwaway paper and plastic bags every year, Nickels said.

"We are faced with changing our culture from one of conspicuous consumption to conspicuous conservation," Nickels said. "Seattle is a good place to do that. Seattle has had a strong conservation ethic for a long time."

'I expect it will pass'

The City Council expects to vote on the proposal in June. If adopted, the measure will take effect in January 2009. Retailers would keep 5 cents per bag to cover the administrative costs. Store owners grossing less than $1 million annually will keep the entire fee.

"The council is very supportive, and I expect it will pass," Conlin said. "The public has been generally supportive. The plastic industry doesn't like it."

In fact, the American Chemistry Council intends to lobby against the proposal. It sees plastic recycling as a better alternative, said Keith Christman, senior director of packaging for the chemistry council's Progressive Bag Affiliates.

"We appreciate the city's interest in reducing waste," Christman said. "The tax is not the right approach. Recycling plastic bags is the right approach."

Studies show that consumers recycle and reuse their plastic bags, he said. Sales of plastic bags go up when plastic bags are prohibited, he said.

"Once people understand that plastic bags are recyclable and reusable, people will do that," Christman said.

But the trend in a number of countries is away from plastic bags.

Ireland started taxing them in 2003. China's ban on free plastic bags begins June 1. Shoppers must pay for the bags in Switzerland, Germany and Holland.

Ikea, the Swedish home furnishings store that has charged 5 cents for plastic bags since March 2007, will pull them from all U.S. stores in October.

Last year, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban nonbiodegradable plastic bags in large grocery stores and drugstores.