Illinois lawmakers are proposing an extra 5 cents to be added on beverage purchases in stores, but customers could get that money back if they return the containers.

The fee would apply to any beverage container made of glass, plastic, aluminum or other containers labeled with approval from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

People may also have to pay an extra 10 cents per new grocery bag, whether plastic or paper, and could be required to ask for plastic food utensils instead of automatically receiving them.

Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, and Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, each have bills that would create a statewide container deposit program and would require full-service and fast food restaurants to provide single-use plastics only at the consumer’s request.

“If you go to a restaurant and you’re automatically given a straw and you never use it, the restaurant throws it away,” Williams said. “But if you go to a restaurant and you don’t need a straw, you don’t get one. If you want one, you can request one. Where’s the harm or inconvenience there?”

Rob Karr, Illinois Retail Merchants Association president, said most of the legislation doesn’t address the bigger issues and it nickel-and-dimes consumers. He also said it’s an inconvenience for consumers and raises cost issues for restaurants.

“What do you do at a drive-through situation? Families on vacation, they go through, they don’t ask for their silverware. I have a family of six, go two miles down the road, what do you do, go back? At that point I’m not too happy,” Karr said.

Williams, however, said these are simple ways to reduce the amount of waste alongside roads, in rivers and in people. The average person ingests about 5 grams of plastic per week, or the amount in a credit card, according to a news release.

“The solutions that we’re proposing are not going to require big, sweeping lifestyle changes for people,” Williams said.

But Karr questions what kind of impact the little changes will actually have.

“Straws are such a small part of the waste stream, I mean people throw out more contacts (lenses) and other things than they do straws,” Karr said.

He said the IRMA proposed legislation six years ago that addressed plastic wrap, which he said is 80% of the waste stream, but it never passed.

He also noted that IRMA has proposed two plastic bag taxes that were turned down. One would have taxed manufacturers for the take-back of bags and plastic wrap instead of consumers. Another would have expanded the definition of household hazardous waste and opened up take-back sites in every county for things like mattresses and paint.

“I’ve been at this 26 years, and this proposal (statewide container deposit) predates me and has been consistently rejected,” Karr said. “It sounds good, but it doesn’t solve the problem, particularly in a state like Illinois that has a curbside recycling program.”

Advocates for container recycling programs point to successful programs in 15 other states. Williams said she saw it work when she lived in Iowa. She and Jennifer Walling, Illinois Environmental Council executive director, think it would create new businesses.

“In other states that have done this, collectors have popped up because this is a good business opportunity where you can make money, not only as a commercial enterprise, but also there are a number of individuals that make money in this way,” Walling said.

Karr thinks the law would open doors to fraud, like people from other states coming to Illinois to cash in on their containers. He also said consumers would probably revolt, pointing to the Cook County sweetened beverage tax that was repealed.

But Williams said the bills aim to change people’s force of habit to do the small things that can help keep plastics out of the environment.

“At some point, if plastic doesn’t degrade, when are we going to get to a critical mass that we can’t sustain anymore?” Williams said. “So, we’re trying to pump the brakes on the consumption of plastic in hopes that we can keep our air, water and food healthier and cleaner.”

Contact Kade Heather at kheather@sj-r.com, (217) 782-3095 or twitter.com/kade_heather.