Issaquah to Consider Plastic Bag Ban Tonight

The Issaquah City Council is considering an ordinance that would ban single-use, plastic bags at retail outlets. The Council’s Utilities, Technology and Environment Committee voted March 19 to refer the ordinance to the full council for review during its April 2 meeting. The council could adopt the ordinance at the meeting tonight, which begins at 7:30 p.m.

The legislation would also require retail stores to collect 5 cents for each single-use, paper carryout bag provided to customers. Retailers would then keep the fee to offset the cost of the bags. The city said in a news release that the new fee would also incentivize the customer to reduce paper bag use.

Plastic bags would still be allowed for meat; bulk foods; fruits and vegetables; small hardware items; newspaper bags; dry cleaning; bakery goods; take-out foods and others. Services for low income households; food banks; and state or federal financial assistance program beneficiaries would be exempt from the five cent charge.

The proposed ordinance is modeled after similar programs adopted in Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds and Mukilteo, and . Under the proposed ordinance, the new rules would be implemented after nine months. Businesses could also apply for temporary waivers. Issaquah would also provide reusable bags to low-income households, and support local businesses as they implemented the changes.

According to the news release, the ban is under consideration because plastic bags are a global and regional litter concern – particularly in the marine environment – and have very low recovery rates for recycling, according to the City’s Agenda Bill. While paper bags consume larger amounts of water and energy to produce, they are more readily recyclable (with recovery rates of approximately 80 percent), and are biodegradable. Plastic bags do not biodegrade in the environment.

An estimated 2 billion disposable plastic bags are used annually in Washington State, and less than 5 percent are recovered for recycling. In 2010, 49,000 tons of recyclable bags and film were disposed of for King County in the Cedar Hills landfill.