SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council is proposing a ban of plastic carryout bags to help protect Puget Sound and marine life.
The bill being introduced Monday would ban the plastic bags from grocers, retailers and department stores. Customers would be charged 5 cents for each paper bag to encourage reusable bags.
Plastic bags have been blamed for littering streets, polluting oceans and harming marine life. In 2008, the Seattle City Council voted to charge a 20-cent fee on paper and plastic bags. The plastics industry spent $1.4 million backing a referendum to overturn the fee, and voters soundly defeated the fee in 2009.
An official with plastic-bag maker Hilex Poly Co., Mark Daniels, said Monday he supports a statewide program to address plastics recycling.
