The Bend City Council considered options for banning plastic shopping bags in the city during a work session Wednesday, but made no decisions.

Gillian Ockner, senior policy analyst for the city, presented the council with her findings after researching plastic bag bans in Ashland, Corvallis, Eugene and Portland — and cities in Washington and California.

Ockner said any proposed regulation would focus solely on plastic shopping bags commonly used in retail shops and grocery stories. The bags are often used once and end up in communities’ landfills, Ockner said.

“Overall, the intent of plastic bag bans seems to be focused on increasing consumer awareness around waste,” Ockner said, “minimizing and preventing waste in the community.”

City Councilor Bruce Abernethy, who said he is generally supportive of moving forward with some type of plastic bag ban, asked Ockner how the other cities rolled out the ban.

Most cities phase in the ban based on size and type of business, Ockner said.

As for enforcing the ban, Ockner said some cities first did outreach and education with local business. The next step was giving a business a warning for a first-time violation for using plastic bags. The warning would be followed by penalties and fines.

In Corvallis, each and every violation is a $200 fine, while Portland increases fines with each violation starting at $100, then $200 and then $500, according to Ockner.

City Councilor Barb Campbell said she would be interested in phasing in the ban. She worries about store owners who bought plastic bags in bulk to last for years having to discard them all at once.

“The idea of the unused ones ending up in a landfill is the very worst possible scenario,” Campbell said.

Alternatives to plastic shopping bags are recyclable paper bags or reusable cloth bags.

Paper bags cost more to manufacture and transport than plastic bags, Ockner said. But the cost can be offset for the retailer by charging for paper bags, usually 5 to 10 cents per bag.

City Councilor Bill Moseley is skeptical about the reason retailers are charging for paper bags.

“To me it represents a transfer of wealth from lower-income people to grocery stores,” Moseley said. “I’m not sure that is really our interest.”

Some grocery stores have already voluntarily stopped using plastic bags without a city ordinance, Moseley added.

At the end of the work session, City Manager Eric King told the council it has three options regarding a plastic bag ban.

The council could move forward right away to replicate a ban similar to the other cities in Oregon. The council could add the discussion to its goal setting meetings in January, or the council could choose not to proceed.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com