Disposable Shopping Bag Ban Revised Ordinance
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Disposable Shopping Bag Ban Revised Ordinance Luyi Cheng October 8, 2020 Sustainability Intern Environment Board Meeting To reach our zero waste goal, Eliminating plastic bags will reduce the City’s use of plastic and waste But the existing ordinance has two major loopholes: ● Allows plastic bags over 2.25 mils thick ● Exempts stores under size requirement In May, Staff presented a draft of the ordinance This draft included two major revisions: ● Definition of banned “disposable shopping bag” includes thicker plastic bags ● All sales tax-paying businesses must follow the ordinance New sections: ● Customers will be charged a $0.10 fee per checkout bag ● $0.10 fee will be split, $0.05 will be kept by business and $0.05 remitted to City ● Exemptions for assistance program recipients (SNAP and Evanston benefit card) ● Requires businesses to participate in public engagement Revisions to proposed ordinance Regarding exemptions to plastic bag ban: “Provided, however, that this Section shall not apply if the operator does not provide disposable plastic shopping bags of any type to its customers.” Staff revisions: ● Businesses who have not provided disposable shopping bags prior to the ordinance are not required to adhere to the requirement to provide approved bags. Example: ● Aldi will not be required to provide checkout bags under this ordinance because they do not currently provide checkout bags. Revisions to proposed ordinance Regarding definition of “DISPOSABLE PLASTIC SHOPPING BAG”: “Are biodegradable bags that are commercially compostable OK? Consider adding a definitions section to clarify the differences between biodegradable, compostable, etc.” Staff revisions: ● Added an additional definition for ‘COMPOSTABLE BAG’: BPI-certified and will be allowed for pre-checkout bagging for fresh produce. ● Defined under ‘DISPOSABLE SHOPPING BAG’ that compostable plastic will not be allowed for checkout bagging. Addressing comments from previous memo Comments from Caroline Peyer and Jerri Garl: “What about single use plastic bags you use to pack vegetables and fruits at the grocery store? Any intention to include these in the future? Are there any other cities/communities experience with that?” “Good point. Would compostable plastic bags be exempt? Have other communities done that?” Staff response: ● Revised ordinance allows plastic bags for pre-checkout produce or fresh product bagging. ● Cities such as San Francisco have recently phased out non-compostable plastic in their policies to only allow BPI-certified compostable plastic. Addressing comments from previous memo Comment from Wendy Pollock: “Given practices that have taken hold during the pandemic, this may need especially careful (and reality based) discussion with both businesses and public.” Next steps ● On October 8, 2020: seek feedback from Environment Board ● Bring to the City Manager for further direction Future stakeholder engagement ● Comments from Economic Development Committee ● Feedback from Business District and the Chamber of Commerce ● Individual business outreach ● Assistance program coordination References and resources Evanston’s CARP: https://www.cityofevanston.org/home/showdocument?id=45170 Evanston plastic bag ordinance: https://www.cityofevanston.org/government/departments/public-works/policies/shopping-bag-ordinance San Francisco plastic bag ordinance: https://sfenvironment.org/checkout-bag-ordinance Thank you, questions?.