Major grocery stores support statewide ban on plastic bags

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A proposal to ban plastic bags in Washington stores is dividing the grocery industry. Smaller independent stores and plastic bag makers oppose a statewide ban. But major grocery stores including Fred Meyer support the proposal.

The bag ban got a hearing Wednesday in Olympia. Holly Chisa is with the Northwest Grocery Association, which represents Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway and other grocery stores in the region.

“We are not opposed to moving away from plastic bags," she says. "My grocery stores, which are the larger grocery stores, believe that a bag is a bag and it is time to make the move.”

Instead of using plastic, large grocers want to provide paper bags for a five-cent charge. Several Washington plastic bag makers testified that the proposed statewide ban would hurt their businesses.

But at a recent Seattle City Club event, both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders indicated they do not support a statewide ban on plastic bags.

Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network