In photo, S.C. Leg. Wayne Horsley, second from left and S.C. Exec. Steve Levy, add to the county's first collection of plastic bags for recycling at press conference announcing the new law. That plastic bag that you carried your shopping home in today may just become the fence in your back yard, or the bench in your front garden next year. Suffolk County lawmakers passed a law last month requiring that all retailers with stores of 10,000 square feet or more provide a recycling bin where shoppers can bring their used plastic bags. In turn, those bags will be picked up by recyclers in a market that lawmakers said they hope will be expanding as a result of the new law.

"This plastic bag reduce-recycle-reuse measure is the first in the nation to emphasize recycling and reuse of plastic bags, as opposed to an outright ban on the product," said S.C. Leg. Wayne Horsley, who authored the bill.

Under Suffolk's new law, shoppers can bring their plastic bags and put them into the bins just as they now recycle plastic bottles and cans.

There is a small but growing market for these plastic products and Horsley said he hopes that this new approach will encourage even more recycling.

"The more plastic bags that are collected, the greater the chances are that the market place is going to grow and that is what we are pushing for," said Horsley.

Ken Trottere, vice president of Poly-Pak a plastic bag manufacturer, said the program is important.

"There is a very strong market for recycled plastic and we have a collection program in place, so this new law goes hand in hand with what is happening in the marketplace," said Trottere.

Already, the idea seems to be catching on. New York City has adopted a similar bill. "It's flattering to have New York follow our lead," said Horsley, "but it is even more gratifying to know that many across the country will see what New York has done and adopt their own bills. That will really open up new markets for these products."

Neal Lewis, executive director of the Neighborhood Network, an environmental organization, supported the measure and said it was a way of not only saving resources but also of making the public more aware of the importance of conservation.

"Anything that gets the public involved in preserving the environment is good," he said.

Tom Cullen of King Kullen supermarkets said his stores have encouraged recycling of plastic bags for 15 years. "We have had recycling bins available at all of our stores," said Cullen.