Recycle plastic bags a law?

There is move afoot by two Chicago aldermen to require stores to take back and recycle the carryout plastic bags they dispense.

Alderman Margaret Laurino, a co-sponsor of an ordinance requiring the recycling the bags, says the aldermen are responding to public demand. The proposed ordinance would require chains with five or more stores of at least 5,000 square feet each to provide recycling bins "in a visible location that is easily accessible to the consumer."

It would also require retailers to offer reusable bags for sale to their customers. Brian Granahan of Environment Illinois says 100 billion bags a year are consumed in the United States, representing 12 million barrels of oil used to manufacture them.

Brian Jordan of the Illinois Food Retailers Association expressed an openness to a recycling ordinance but questions a requirement to submit annual reports to the city.