Full Text of HR1139 99th General Assembly
HR1139 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Paper and plastic disposable bags are distributed
| 3 | | extensively throughout our society and are typically disposed | 4 | | of
after their initial use; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The rate of recycling of paper and plastic | 6 | | disposable
bags is extremely low, accounting for only 1-3% of | 7 | | plastic bags and only 13-15% of paper bags; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Paper and plastic disposable bags consume | 9 | | valuable
natural resources in their production, increase waste | 10 | | generation,
and contribute to litter; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The impact of single-use retail plastic and paper | 12 | | bags
imposes a high cost on citizens in terms of recycling, | 13 | | landfill space,
sewer cleanup costs, and environmental damage; | 14 | | and | 15 | | WHEREAS, One million birds and 100,000 mammals are
killed | 16 | | annually from plastic in our environment; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Improper disposal results in plastic bags | 18 | | becoming
windblown through our streets and parks, clogging our | 19 | | storm drains
and sewers and degrading our soils and waterways; | 20 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Those plastic bags that are blown or washed into | 2 | | our
waterways may threaten the lives of avian and marine | 3 | | species
through entanglement, choking, and toxicity; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Plastic bags, when landfilled, do not biodegrade
| 5 | | and remain intact for many decades; those that remain in the
| 6 | | environment photo-degrade into very small particles that may be
| 7 | | consumed by wildlife, diminishing and contaminating a part of
| 8 | | our food chain; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Locally, plastic bags must be screened out of yard
| 10 | | waste collections; they contaminate food scrap composting
| 11 | | facilities and have jammed the mechanical parts of recycling
| 12 | | balers and sewage treatment systems; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Single use plastics such as Styrofoam, clamshell
| 14 | | containers, and plastic bags, are unsustainable products, | 15 | | manufactured from petroleum and natural gas; the energy used in
| 16 | | the
production and transportation of plastic bags results in | 17 | | unnecessary
natural resource consumption and increased | 18 | | greenhouse gas emissions; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The impacts of plastic bag use and pollution have | 20 | | ignited a global movement to dramatically reduce the amount of
| 21 | | disposable plastic bags distributed; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, There are successful plastic bag recycling | 2 | | programs that
exist throughout the country; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Convenient locations for the collection of | 4 | | plastic bags
to be recycled needs to be established; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Retail store employee awareness initiatives to | 6 | | reduce
wasteful bagging practices needs to be increased; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, A program needs to be established in order to | 8 | | promote the
recycling of plastic and paper bags and the use of | 9 | | reusable bags;
and | 10 | | WHEREAS, A unified and coordinated | 11 | | education/advocacy/recycling
program of this nature will | 12 | | reflect a meaningful and positive step
forward towards reducing | 13 | | litter and plastic bag waste; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Many states have successfully enacted ordinances | 15 | | banning or
restricting the use of plastic bags; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, These measures will help educate schools that need | 17 | | to
know about recycling waste; therefore, be it
| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| 1 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 2 | | declare the first Friday of May 2016 as "Thin
Film Friday"; and | 3 | | be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That "Thin Film Friday" is established in the | 5 | | State of
Illinois as an effort to reclaim used thin-film | 6 | | plastic bags and to
encourage consumers to use reusable bags.
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