Take Action: Ban Single Use Plastics
5/7/24
Action Required
It’s time to rally support for banning single-use plastics in Illinois! Ask your state representative and state senator to co-sponsor bills that will ban polystyrene foam foodware (HB2376) and single-use plastic bags (HB4448 / SB2211).
Here’s what you can do:
Call or email your state legislators. You can send this email with a few clicks or look up your legislator’s phone number and call their office. Check out this toolkit for talking points and more resources.
Make an appointment to visit your legislators in Springfield during the Illinois Environmental Council’s Zero Waste Lobby Day on May 15. LWVIL Issue Specialist Claudia Jackson is available to attend these meetings with you. Use this sample script to request a meeting.
Background
Plastic pollution is a highly pervasive threat to not only the health of our environment but of all Illinoisans as well. Plastic waste is unique in that it never fully disintegrates and instead infiltrates our waterways and affects public health and wildlife.
22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year, and just over half of that ends up in Lake Michigan. We can’t recycle our way out of this problem: over 91% of our plastic isn’t recycled, and less than 1% of foam gets recycled. Worse yet, our unrecyclable plastic items clog recycling equipment, contaminate recyclable materials, and pass by optical sorting machinery.
We must act now and address the worst of these materials—foam cups, containers, other foodware, and plastic carryout bags.
Polystyrene Foam Foodware Ban (HB2376)
Amends the Environmental Protection Act to provide that, beginning January 1, 2025, a retail establishment in Illinois may not sell or distribute a disposable food service container that is composed in whole or in part of polystyrene foam. Certain entities would be exempt from the prohibition until January 1, 2026.
Plastic Bag Ban (HB4448 / SB2211)
Amends the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act to provide that (1) no store or food service business shall provide or sell a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer and (2) no grocery store shall provide or sell a single-use paper carryout bag to a customer.
League Position
The League believes that consumption of nonrenewable resources should be minimized. Environmental protection and pollution control, including waste management, should be considered a cost of providing a product or service. We support policies to reduce the generation and promote the reuse and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes.