Bills before the city and state that would ban the use of plastic shopping bags were met with opposition by city administrators and retail industry advocates yesterday, leading lawmakers to defer action on the issue.

At a meeting of the Honolulu City Council's planning and sustainability committee, city Department of Environmental Services Director Eric S. Takamura told council members he sees no litter problem related to plastic bags.

"We don't see a lot of plastic bags in the mix. We think there are better ways to dispose of them or recycle them," said Takamura, speaking before the committee. "On my way out to Kapolei, I may see one or two, but not lining the side of the freeway. Yeah, I don't see it (as a problem)."

The proposed ban would apply to O'ahu businesses with annual gross sales of more than $1 million, and would take effect one year after council approval.

It would apply to all other Honolulu businesses after five years. Violators would face fines of up to $1,000 per day.

Councilman Donovan M. Dela Cruz, who introduced the bill last fall with Councilwoman Ann H. Kobayashi, said he hopes the discussion surrounding the proposed ban will spur the city to take more action in the realm of recycling and waste management.

"We have to take some responsibility. If you want your yard to be clean, you have to clean it," Dela Cruz said. "I'm just hoping at some point the city and county of Honolulu will take the lead."

The committee deferred action on the bill.

Some grocery and business groups oppose the ban, warning that it could drive up costs for their customers.

"We've looked at the plastic bag ban, and this one we oppose," said Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawai'i. "The answer is not in a ban but in the proper management of the resource. Families look to plastic bags for use in their homes."

Consumers should be educated to reuse plastic shopping bags to carry wet items, clean up after pets, and other uses, Pregill said in testimony to the council.

The Hawai'i Food Industry Association, which represents dozens of grocery stores and suppliers, also opposes a ban.

To prevent bags from blowing away and polluting the environment, consumers should tie them in knots before throwing them away, said the group's president, Richard Botti.

The group also is encouraging recycling, and some stores have set out special bins where customers can return bags. On Maui, Wal-Mart has teamed with local stores to collect plastic bags and ship them to the Mainland for recycling.

"If the bill passes, prices go up, and there is going to be chaos," Botti said. "They (Mainland retailers) will shut us off. We don't need it. There are other ways to solve the problem. We all want the same thing, a clean Hawai'i."

Some environmentalists say a ban would be more effective.

"It takes lots and lots of oil to make these bags," said Betty Gearen, an environmental educator. "They are poisonous to our environment and our children. If our children ate one of these and died, there would be a ban. It's just that fish can't talk."

A similar proposal to ban plastic bags is in front of state legislators, and yesterday the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee postponed decision-making for the second time on the bill.

The committee is scheduled to make a decision tomorrow on House Bill 2434, which would prohibit businesses grossing more than $250,000 annually from distributing nonbiodegradable plastic checkout bags beginning in 2009.

Bills to ban plastic bags seem to have lukewarm support in the Legislature.

Some lawmakers in the House and Senate have expressed concerns about such a ban, said Senate Energy and Environment Committee Chairman Ron Menor. Menor introduced a bill that would prohibit retail stores and supermarkets from providing plastic shopping bags to consumers.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.