Seattle proposes fee on disposable shopping bags

Seattle businesses may soon stop asking the eternal question, “Paper or plastic?”

The city’s mayor, Greg Nickels, and City Council president, Richard Conlin, introduced legislation this week to implement a 20-cent “green fee” on all disposable shopping bags at the city’s grocery, drug and convenience stores. The proposal also bans the use of foam, plastic and plastic-coated containers in the food-service industry. The bill will be voted on by the City Council in June and, if passed, will go into affect Jan. 1, 2009.

Retailers subject to the fee will keep 5 cents of each bag charge to cover administrative costs while15 cents will go to the city. Businesses grossing less than $1 million a year will keep the entire 20-cent fee.

According to a statement released by Nickels’ office, Seattle Public Utilities expects to raise $10 million annually from the fee, $2 million will go toward promoting the switch to reusable bags, including the distribution of free bags to low-income families and those on fixed incomes. The remaining $8 million will go toward waste prevention and recycling programs and environmental education programs.

Other U.S. cities such as San Francisco banned plastic bags outright while businesses such as Ikea and countries such as Ireland have tried levying fees on their use. [see "The Bay's got a brand new bag," SI, June 2007] In Ireland, which passed the country-wide tax in 2002, the use of plastic bags for groceries dropped by 90 percent. According to a study conducted by the city of Seattle, the proposed 20-cent green fee will reduce the use of disposable bags in the city by 70 percent. Disposable shopping bags make up 4 percent of Seattle's waste stream so this proposal will help the city meet its Zero-Waste Strategy goal of reducing waste by 1 percent each year until 2012 and increasing recycling rates to 60 percent at the same time. [see "Seattle zeros in on waste," SI, July 2007]

The food service industry will also face massive changes if the bill is passed. The proposed ban on foam containers used by the food service industry would include such items as plates, trays, “clamshells” and hot and cold beverage cups used at restaurants, delicatessens, fast food outlets and coffee shops, and meat trays and egg cartons used at grocery stores. In addition, all food-service businesses in Seattle currently using plastic-coated paper cups -- such as coffee cups -- will be required to convert to packaging that is compostable or locally recyclable.