4 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Cook County, Illinois.
Verified from official government sources
Cook County's 7-cent checkout-bag tax (Ord. 16-O-49) took effect November 2017 but was repealed October 2017 effective December 2017 after Illinois Retail Merchants Association challenges. No countywide bag fee or ban applies in 2026.
Cook County has no countywide ban on polystyrene foam food containers. County Code Ch. 30 limits foam in certain county-operated facilities. Chicago and several suburbs (Evanston, Oak Park) have stronger municipal foam restrictions.
Illinois has no statewide straws-on-request law and Cook County imposes none. Restaurants may freely offer plastic straws to customers. A few Cook County suburbs encourage on-request distribution but no enforceable countywide rule exists.
Illinois has no statewide utensils-on-request statute. Cook County has not adopted countywide rules. Some Cook suburbs including Evanston restrict automatic utensil distribution under broader sustainability ordinances, while most suburbs leave the practice unregulated.
1 cities in Cook County have their own single-use items rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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