Seattle Approves Disposable Bag Fees

The Seattle City Council has approved legislation that will require groceries, convenience stores and drugstores in the city to collect a 20 cent fee for each paper or plastic bag given to a customer, according to a report in the Seattle Times.

The 20-cent fee on disposable grocery bags will take effect in January. According to the report, the utilities committee also approved a ban on foam food containers. That ban is scheduled to begin in 2009, but a portion of the ban covering foam trays used for meat and seafood, has been delayed until 2010.

Under the new measure, the stores would keep 5 cents from each bag for costs associated with administering the fee. According to the report, stores that make less than $1 million per year would keep the entire 20-cent fee.

The stores would keep 5 cents from each bag to cover costs associated with administering the fee. Small stores that gross less than $1 million a year would keep the entire 20-cent fee.

The city would use $1.5 million of the expected $10 million in annual bag-fee revenue to provide at least one reusable bag to each household.