Austinites can weigh in on bag ban

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The city of Austin is working on a plan to ban plastic shopping bags, and residents can give some input on the plan.

There is a public hearing scheduled Monday evening at the Austin Energy building on Barton Springs Road. It starts at 6 p.m.

The city's Resource Recovery director will be there to take input on how the city should craft an ordinance to phase out those bags.

In August, the Austin City Council passed a resolution calling for a comprehensive ban on plastic bags within the city limits.

According to Fresh Plus, a single plastic bag costs them two-tenths of a cent per bag. A paper bag costs four times as much at about a penny per bag.

And while plastic bags are considerably cheaper than paper, supporters of the plastic bag ban have said they cost the city too much money.

Austinites use about 263 million plastic bags annually, which cost the city an estimated $850,000 per year to manage -- including collection, litter management, landfill costs and recycling contamination.

City officials said this figure does not include the immeasurable cost to our environment.