Editorial: Sensible addition to the recycling mix
We love to hate the plastic bags that hold our groceries. They’re strong and easy to handle, but we know they harm wildlife, get snagged in tree branches and decay too slowly in landfills.
Consequently, some of us haul them back to stores that offer recycling bins. But only about 2 percent of us make the effort. That’s why a bill pending in the General Assembly to create a statewide standard for recycling of plastic bags is a smart idea. It has the potential to expand recycling through manufacturers’ incentives to retailers and increased public education.
The statewide proposal builds on the successes of a Lake County pilot program. In 2009, about 80 retailers voluntarily collected used bags from customers and received money back from recyclers. While some retailers already have recycling bins in place, waste agency officials believe statewide incentives would increase their numbers.
But the larger benefit is something most of us don’t see — yards upon yards of product wrapping often discarded behind grocery stores waiting to be hauled to landfills. This waste accounts for 85 percent of the plastic that would be recycled under the new law, according to a study by the state Commerce and Economic Opportunity Department. The plastic could instead be sold and the recycled material used for decking, pipes, playground equipment and new plastic bags.
Sometimes going green requires an extra push, and giving retailers more of a reason to recycle should be one of them. The law would not add costs to governments, businesses or consumers, only an annual fee to bag producers. Both the Illinois Retail Merchants’ Association and the Illinois Manufacturers Association support the bill, which also outlines requirements for manufacturers to educate the public on bag reuse and recycling.
By setting uniform standards, Illinois would prevent a patchwork of local recycling laws that can burden businesses. Individual towns would be barred from enacting their own bans or taxes on the bags, but many have not done so, even though the problems of plastic bags have been known for years. For this reason, environmentalists who would prefer bans or disincentives say the bill is too weak. But the state would be remiss in stopping sensible progress toward more recycling on the belief the bill doesn’t go far enough.
Evanston, Chicago and Champaign recently proposed bans or taxes on bags. As it stands, the statewide legislation exempts the city of Chicago from the law — a move supporters call politically necessary. So far, the city’s 2011 proposal to ban the bags has gone nowhere. Even if excused from the state recycling proposal, if it passes, Chicago should participate sooner than later.
The bill has cleared the Senate, and we urge lawmakers in the House and Gov. Pat Quinn to make Illinois the first state in the nation with a plastic bag recycling program. Meanwhile, consumers should remember that every effort counts and be ready the next time the checker asks “paper or plastic?” to hold up their reusable canvas bags.