Seattle Referendum Rejects Ordinance On Grocery Bag Fee

Seattle, WA (AHN) – Majority of Seattle residents said no to Referendum 1 on Tuesday to defeat an ordinance charging shoppers 20 cents for every disposable grocery bag used.

The “no” votes were 58 percent against 42 percent for the “yes” votes foiling the city’s plan to implement the ordinance meant to reduce the use and disposal of plastic and paper bags.

Introduced in July last year, the ordinance was supposed to take effect Jan. 1 when the American Chemistry Council led a signature campaign against it. Businesses to be affected by the bag fee joined the lobby against the ordinance arguing that disposal bags constitute a small portion of the city’s yearly garbage output.

Based on the Seattle Public Utilities’ estimate, the city usest 360 million disposable bags annually.