Pushing city to cut use of receipts

Don’t show me the receipts, city lawmakers say.

The City Council will consider legislation meant to cut down on waste from paper receipts and tickets, as well as reduce exposure to the chemicals coating them.

“We will work with businesses and consumers to cut out paper receipt waste and protect the planet,” Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D Manhattan) said. “Let’s not print receipts when they aren’t wanted, especially when we have technology to issue environmentally-friendly alternatives.”

Use of receipts in the U.S. consumes over 3 million trees every year, according to advocacy nonprofit Green America.

One bill would require stores and banks recycle receipts. Another would require retail establishments to have devices that can issue electronic receipts. Stores would also have to ask consumers if they want a paper receipt before giving them one under a third bill.

Most paper receipts are also coated with bisphenol A, called BPA, or bisphenol S, called BPS, two chemicals that can be toxic. Studies have linked BPA to developmental and reproductive issues.

A fourth bill the Council will consider would restrict the use of paper coated with BPA or BPS and require all receipts and tickets be printed on recyclable materials.

“Buying a candy bar shouldn’t require a four-foot receipt. Yet many retailers burn through unnecessary amounts of paper while exposing millions of New Yorkers to harmful toxins,” said Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Queens), who chairs the Committee on Environmental Protection.

A hearing on the bills is expected to be held in the next few months, according to a Council spokesman.