Chicago Evaluates Plastic Bag Ban

Six months later, the results are not as clear cut as some would like with the city’s ban on plastic bags.

February 03, 2016

CHICAGO – Six months ago, Chicago enacted its first ban on plastic bags with mixed results, the Chicago Tribune reports. More than 200 localities in the United States have some sort of ordinance designed to reduce litter from plastic bags.

Supermarket chain Jewel-Osco has seen some change in shopper behavior since the ban went into effect August 1. “By educating our customers and training cashiers and service clerks, Jewel-Osco has significantly reduced the number of plastic bags used since the Chicago plastic bag ban went into effect,” Mary Frances Trucco, a spokeswoman, said. Before August, a Jewel-Osco store generally used around 6,000 plastic bags a day.

However, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association has criticized the ordinance as increasing the cost of business for retailers while doing little to change shopper habits as the regulation required replacing thinner plastic bags with thicker, heavier ones.

“People have to be incentivized to bring their own bag; otherwise, it's just too easy for them to take the bag that's offered to them,” said Tanya Triche, vice president and general counsel for the association. Chain convenience stores have until August 1, 2016, to comply with the ordinance.

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