The Elgin City Council has directed staff to draft an ordinance banning the use of single-use bags by all retailers other than restaurants and charging a fee for customers who request paper bags.
Proposed by the city’s Sustainability Commission, the goal is to get people into the habit of using reusable bags when shopping so that the use single-use plastic bags is reduced, commission Chair Tom Armstrong told the council at its Wednesday night meeting.
Commissioners opted for a ban rather than charging a fee for single-use bags, he said.
Plastic bags can take thousands of years to breakdown in landfills, and when left to decay in the elements, can release toxins into the soil that make their way into the water system and into the food chain, according to nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
If Elgin decides to implement a ban, it is important to create a marketing campaign to educate the public before it’s enacted, Armstrong said. The commission recommends a six-month period leading up to the ban and a six-month grace period for retailers after the ban goes into effect, he said.
The concept of curbing plastic bag use in Elgin was initially broached in 2023, when the commission recommended implementing a fee for single-use plastic and paper bags to encourage the switch to reusable bags. The issue was tabled at the time and not discussed again until Wednesday.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the community to bring this back to the council,” Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger, council liaison to the Sustainability Commission, said. “A future without plastics is neither realistic nor desirable, but we would like to aim for the future of reduced plastic consumption, especially single-use.”
Twelve states already have a ban on plastic bags and bottles, and local communities, including Batavia and Woodstock, have passed bans too, she said. Chicago enacted a ban in 2017 and collects a 10-cent fee on every bag used by a customer who did not bring their own bag.
A customer unloads plastic bags loaded with groceries after shopping at Pete’s Fresh store in Willowbrook on Feb. 22, 2019.
“There are many economies that are thriving without single-use plastic bags,” Rauschenberger said.
When the idea was brought up two years ago, the city council was split. This time around, there seemed to be more agreement about a ban.
“If you want to solve the problem, you have to ban the problem,” Mayor Dave Kaptain said.
In the 1970s there was an effort to regulate the discharge of pollutants into rivers and streams through a fee system, he said.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Kaptain said. “If you put a fee on it, it allows people to pay their way out of it. You shouldn’t be able to get your way out of it.”
Councilwoman Tish Powell said she originally supported a fee for single-use plastic bags rather than a ban. Now, “I would support the ban. I think I am there,” she said. She’s confident retailers and businesses will be able to accommodate the change.
But Councilwoman Rose Martinez said she was concerned about the proposed ordinance.
“While I understand and appreciate the environmental problems that drive this initiative, the current approach lacks critical information and engagement with our local businesses,” Martinez said.
There hasn’t been sufficient outreach to businesses or enough data collected on the potential consequences of a ban, she said. A comprehensive campaign promoting the use of sustainable bags instead of a ban should be done, she said.
“This positive approach would encourage environmentally friendly behavior without imposing a potentially damaging mandate on local businesses,” Martinez said. “This alternative approach would achieve the same environmental goals while being more collaborative and supportive of our businesses.”
When ready, the proposed ordinance will come back to the council for more discussion and a vote.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
