Philly Debates Fee For Plastic Bags

Plastic shopping bags can be a real nuisance. People get them with their purchase at the convenience store or supermarket, and too often they turn into litter – blowing down the street and getting stuck in trees. It’s both bad for the Earth and a blight on the looks of the city streets. Now, Councilman Mark Squilla has proposed a measure that would nip the problem in the bud.

Plastic bags: necessary evil or public nuisance?

The universal problem of plastic bags has encouraged legislation in many places. Several cities and municipalities (Chicago and San Francisco, for instance) have either banned shopping bags or levied fees against them. The measures are intended to discourage shoppers from using the bags. Consumers in cities where bags have been banned have no choice but to load up on reusable shopping bags and to bring them along when they go shopping.

In Philly, the proposal would charge shoppers five cents per shopping bag that they took from the store, either paper or plastic. The nickel would be split between business owners and the city, three cents to two cents. It’s expected that the city’s take would funnel between $1 million and $1.5 million into Philadelphia’s general fund.

Measures similar to Squilla’s have historically met with opposition from both merchants and the companies that make shopping bags. Groups that advocate for the poor have also argued that the shopping bag fees unfairly target the poor, who are more likely to have trouble coming up with the money. Back in 2009 Philadelphia’s City Council voted against a measure that would have imposed a 25 cent fine on plastic bags. It was argued that the poor would have trouble paying the fee in addition to the cost of their groceries.