H&R Springfield Bureau Writer

SPRINGFIELD - The sight of a plastic bag dancing gently in the breeze might have provided inspiration for the Oscar winning movie "American Beauty," but one lawmaker does not see any romance in the image.

"Plastic bags are a nuisance, and they are a safety issue," said state Rep. Sandy Cole, D-Grayslake. "They get caught in the lawn mowers and snow plows, and you'd be surprised how many end up in exhausts of cars."

To help curb the problem, Cole has proposed a law that requires Illinois retailers that give plastic bags to customers to begin collecting and recycling them. Failure to follow the proposed law would result in a $5,000 fine for the rogue retailer.

Cole said she is flexible on the amount of the fine and that the bill would exclude mom-and-pop stores while targeting large retailers.

The proposal could be debated by lawmakers this spring.

A few large chain stores, including some Wal-Mart and Cub grocery outlets, already collect plastic bags for recycling. It's a smart business move, Cole said, as the practice could turn into a profit-making venture for businesses big enough to recycle plastic bags by the baleful.

"The market for (recyclable materials) fluctuates," she said. "But these stores can make money (recycling plastic bags)."

Vincent Cobb, founder of ReusableBags.com, an online store that sells what its name implies, said plastic bags are a far more serious problem than their lightweight airiness might suggest.

"We consume them in staggering quantities," he said of the bags. "And these things didn't even exist 25 years ago. They are a victim of their own success."

Cobb's Web site includes a counter that calculates the number of plastic bags used worldwide this year. As of Wednesday, it counted about 24 billion bags.

Adam Aspbury of the Ecology Action Center in Bloomington said plastic bags are not on the list of items recycled in McLean County.

"Some of the bigger stores in the area have a collection for them," he said, before noting that he still sees stray bags. "I spend a lot of time driving around the county, and you see them more in the city than anywhere else."

Gerry Kettler, a spokesman for Niemann Foods Inc., Cub Foods' parent company, said he knew little firsthand about his store's recycling practices or how a new law, if passed, would affect business.

"Some of our stores do have a recycling thing in place," he said. "But if this is what the law requires, it's what we'll do. It's the responsible thing to do."

Blackwell Thomas can be reached at blackwell.thomas@lee.net.