Council Passes Bag-Recycling Bill

The recycling of plastic bags would be required in at least 2,000 stores citywide under legislation passed yesterday by the City Council.

Stores with more than 5,000 square feet and chain stores made up of five or more businesses will have to make a cardboard recycling bin available for customers to drop off plastic bags. In addition, businesses will have to arrange the bags' delivery to recycling plants. Fines for those that fail to comply will range between $300 and $1,500 a day, depending on the number of violations.

The final draft of the bill, which passed 44 to 2, expanded its reach to include more corporate chains and reduced the penalties for violations.

A lobbyist for the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, a coalition of small businesses, Richard Lipsky, said yesterday that the bill remained flawed and misappropriates the penalties.

"If, in fact, these bags are harmful to the environment, then the people who manufacture and sell them should have some obligation to pay for the recycling process," Mr. Lipsky said. "There is no such obligation in this bill."