DUBUQUE – The Dubuque Telegraph Herald is reporting that the Dubuque City Council on Monday approved the first reading of an ordinance that would require businesses to report the number of plastic bags they use.
A final vote on the matter would take place after at least one more reading by the council.
Here is the agenda item:
Retail Single-Use Plastic Bag Reporting
City Manager requesting approval of an Ordinance that will require retailers, based on size, to report their purchase and distribution of plastic bags in order to measure community-wide progress towards the adopted goal of reducing single-use plastic bag use 90% by 2017 in Dubuque.
“Customers expect plastic,” said a large Dubuque retail store manager. “It is really up to the city to decide how this is enforced. We need cooperation from the city and customers to make this work. I am all for using re-usable shopping bags. They are a poly-blend. I don’t know how they are going to enforce this, especially with out-of-town and out-of-state customers.” He said plastic bags are a huge expense to the store, and he would love to reduce the usage.