Chicago Restaurants Safe From Bag Ban

Seven years after it shelved a plastic-bag ban in favor of a roundly ignored recycling compromise, Chicago plans to ban plastic bags within its city limits—unless you are in the restaurant business or a small independent retailer.

Restaurants were excused from the ban to eliminate a legal argument that triggered a lawsuit in Seattle charging that reusable bags contain bacteria that could get inside the food consumed.

City council sponsors of the ban fought for three years to pass the law, which they hope will eliminate 90% of the 3 billion plastic bags used in Chicago every year. The ban, expected to easily pass a city council vote on Thursday, takes effect August 2016.