Business advocates came out in opposition to a proposed ban on plastic checkout bags in Annapolis stores when the bill was presented at an Annapolis City Council meeting Monday.
Paper bags don?t break down in landfills any faster than plastic bags because they are sealed and compressed in layers of lining, said Sveinn Storm, owner of Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory and City Wraps in Annapolis and an environmental activist who raised awareness about sewage being dumped into the Chesapeake Bay in 2004.
The Maryland Retailers Association has spoken out against the ban, saying it will financially burden retailers.
Association spokesman Jeff Zellmer told the council he will be opposing the legislation at its public hearing July 23.
The bill would require retailers to provide customers with reusable cloth bags or 100 percent recycled paper bags.
The penalty for using any kind of plastic checkout bag would be a $100 fine for the first offense, $200 for the second and $500 for each following offense in a yearlong period.
But Storm said the proposal is not about the environment.
“People do things for political reasons and distort the reality of the issue,” he said of the intentions of Alderman Sam Shropshire, D-Ward 7, who sponsored the bill. “This is just self-aggrandizement. It?s what you do if you want to become mayor.”
Several people came to support the legislation, including William Small of Eastport, who said it?s a step inthe right direction for improving the environment.
The bill, which was referred to the Economic Matters Committee for review, is expected to undergo several changes, Shropshire said, but he hopes people will realize the ban could decrease trash-related injuries to marine animals and reduce litter in the Chesapeake Bay.
