Chicago Bag Tax Reduces Bag Usage

The city’s 7-cent tax on disposable plastic or paper bags has changed shopper behavior.

August 09, 2017

CHICAGO – On Feb. 1, retailers began charging 7 cents for paper or plastic bags after Chicago enacted the tax to reduce usage of disposable bags, the Chicago Tribune reports. Of that 7 cents, the city got a nickel and the merchant two pennies.

Six months later, Chicago residents have started using fewer disposable bags. Residents report that the tax has urged them to carry reusable bags when shopping. "I am getting better about it," said Chicagoan Sue Carzoli. "I just hate having to pay. It feels like there's a charge on everything now."

The city previously had a ban on lightweight plastic bags, but officials found the ban didn’t curb usage as much as they’d hoped because retailers started using heavier plastic bags instead. As of July 25, the bag tax has generated nearly $3 million for the city, which is below what officials estimated the tax would bring in.

Now that residents have gotten used to the tax, some analysts predict that customers might revert to store bags for convenience, despite the 7-cent tax. At Jewel-Osco, customers are starting to forget their reusable bags, as the number of bags bought have increased lately, said spokeswoman Mary Frances Trucco.

Research on a Washington, D.C., disposable bag tax showed that grocery stores didn’t experience an uptick in plastic bag usage in the more than two years that the tax has been in effect.

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