Minneapolis Council Mulls Limits On Plastic, Paper Bags

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A new plan was proposed at City Council on Monday to ban businesses from packing customers' purchases in plastic bags.

The goal is to get Minneapolis closer to becoming a zero-waste city.

At The Wedge Co-op in Uptown, bringing your own bag for groceries is pretty much the standard.

Brian Scholz moved here recently from Portland, where they already have a ban on plastic bags.

"They've reduced landfill waste, and a lot of bags go into the trash and end up in the river. It's a bad thing," Scholz said.

But not everyone is this eco-friendly. That's why some council members are trying to get residents to cut back on their plastic bag use by pushing a proposal to ban them.

The proposal would also require businesses to charge five cents for the use of paper bags, but if customers bring in a reusable bag, they'll actually get a 10 cent credit.

At Monday's City Hall public hearing, advocates from several environmental groups across the city lined up in support of the ordinance.

"I am currently dressed as the bag monster, and the bag monster represents the average number of bags a typical shopper uses each year, which is 500 bags, which is quite a spectacle as you can see," Steve Eberly of Linden Hills Power & Light said.

"There's a widespread support for the 'bring your own bag' ordinance among our membership in Minneapolis," Deanna White of Clean Water Action said. "As of today we've collected over 2700 signatures in support of this ordinance."

While most people showed support, some raised concern about businesses being burdened with the five cent charge on paper bags. Council member Jacob Frey voiced concern on the outcome of getting rid of plastic all together.

"How can we be sure we're not simply not trading Peter for Paul and that the ultimate output doesn't end up being greater than before the ban?" Frey said.

After about two-and-a-half hours, council members voted in favor of the ordinance. Now that it has passed committee, it will go to the full city council in about two weeks.