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Green Fee & Foam Ban Proposals
Grocery Bag Green Fee Proposal
Program Summary
Seattleites use 360 million throwaway paper and plastic shopping bags every year.
- • That equals 8,500 tons of greenhouse gases.
- • Almost 240 million bags end up in the garbage, almost 4 percent of all residential garbage, by volume.
- • Compared to plastic, paper bags have four times the environmental impact — from logging, manufacture, distribution and disposal.
To encourage shoppers to switch to reusable bags and cut down on waste, Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin are proposing a 20-cent green fee on disposable shopping bags, both paper and plastic.
- • Subject to City Council action expected in June, the fee would begin Jan. 1, 2009. It would be charged at grocery, drug and convenience stores — the source of almost 75 percent of all bags. This will save 4,000 tons of greenhouse gas per year, that’s the same as taking 665 cars off the road
- • The fee would not apply to bags used inside stores to contain bulk items; bags for prepared food, such as deli or bakery goods; newspapers; and dry-cleaner bags
- • Merchants will retain 5 cents per bag for taxes and administrative costs. Businesses that gross less than $1 million will keep the entire 20-cent fee.
- • City revenue — 15 cents per bag — will be used for waste prevention, recycling, city cleanup and environmental education programs.
To learn more about this proposal read the Frequently Asked Questions (PDF).
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