San Francisco May Further Suffocate Plastic Bag Use

San Francisco is looking to expand its War on Plastic.

Three years ago the City led the nation in a first of its kind ban on the use of plastic bags at large drugstores and supermarkets. Since San Francisco's ban, other Bay Area cities -- such as Berkeley, San Jose and Oakland -- have either flirted with following suit or gone all the way in banning plastic bags as well.

Now Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who introduced the first measure, tells the San Francisco Chronicle that he is planning to introduce a more expansive ban Tuesday.

The new measure would expand the ban to all retailers in the City except bags that hold bulk items such as nuts, plastic bags used for newspapers and used for garbage as well those used for plants and unwrapped prepared foods and frozen foods.

The biggest drawback of the expanded ban would be the cost of retailers being forced to use more expensive alternatives to plastic bags. But Mirkarimi argues that expanding the bill could save the City from the "excess" of tens of millions of plastic bags.
 

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