States and Municipalities Line Up to Curtail Plastic Bag Use in 2019

Date: 
February 4, 2019

Numerous municipalities and states across the country are either about to implement bans or taxes on single-use plastic bags or they’re considering legislation or regulations to do so.

According to www.bagtheban.com, more than two dozen communities recently enacted bans or taxes that will go into effect in 2019. Still, others are in the public comment/rule-making stage.

  • In New Hampshire, lawmakers at the state level have introduced bills to ban the use of plastic bags and plastic straws across the state, while also encouraging cities and towns to enact their own similar regulations should statewide efforts falter.
  • In Boston, a ban on the use of plastic bags in stores and restaurants took effect in mind-December 2018. Stores can now only give out reusable bags, recyclable paper bags, or compostable bags to customers. Customers can expect to pay at least 5-cents per bag for compostable plastic bags with handles—or they can bring their own reusable bags.

What’s Wrong with Plastic Bags?

Product packaging, especially in the form of single-use, disposable plastic bags represent a huge amount of material waste that gets disposed of annually around the world. Because plastic bags are inexpensive to produce, retailers can easily mass produce and distribute them as a convenient way for consumers to carry home their products.

Unfortunately, what’s convenient at the time soon becomes an environmental nightmare.

In most cases, when consumers get their products home or to the office, those inexpensive, convenient plastic bags get tossed into the garbage and soon wind up in landfills or dumped in the ocean. In other cases, plastic bags get discarded of improperly and they end up littering the landscape and highways. And because they are made of plastic, the bags tend not to biodegrade, which means they are with us in the environment for a long, long time.

The World Wide Fund For Nature estimates that less packaging and fewer plastic bags could reduce what ends up in landfills by around 10%. One solution is for consumers to bring their own bags to retailers in order to reduce waste.

Is Your Community On The List?

Here are recent updates on the towns and cities around the country that will be implementing bans/taxes on single-use plastic bags in 2019:

Charleston, SC
City-wide ban on plastic bags
Implement Date: December 1, 2019

Anchorage, AK

City-wide ban on plastic bags, 10 to 50-cent tax for paper bags

Implement Date: September 15, 2019

Scituate, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: September 15, 2019

Wilmington , VT

Town-wide plastic bag ban

Implement Date: July 1, 2019

Jersey City, NJ

City-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: June 27, 2019

Dartmouth, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: June 5, 2019

Danvers, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: June 1, 2019

Ulster County, NY

County-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: June 1, 2019

Wilmington, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: May 5, 2019

Belmar, NJ

Borough-wide ban on plastic bags.

Implement Date: May 1, 2019

Camden, ME

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: April 30, 2019

Waterville, ME

City-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: April 22, 2019

Southwest Harbor, ME

Town-wide ban on plastic bags; optional fee on reusable or paper bags

Implement Date: April 22, 2019

Longmeadow, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: April 16, 2019

Mount Pleasant, SC

City-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: April 10, 2019

Bedford, NY

Town-wide 10-cent fee on plastic and paper bags

Implement Date: April 1, 2019

Salem, OR

City-wide ban on plastic bags, at least 5-cent tax on paper bags

Implement Date: April 1, 2019

Providence, RI

City-wide ban on plastic bags and 10-cent tax on paper and reusable bags

Implement Date: March 15, 2019

Milwaukie, OR

City-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: March 1, 2019

Rockport, MA

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: March 1, 2019

Newcastle, ME

Town-wide ban on plastic bags

Implement Date: March 1, 2019

Haverhill, MA

City-wide ban on plastic bags for businesses with 8,000 square feet or more; medium-sized businesses will have an additional three months to prepare (May 2019).

Implement Date: February 7, 2019

Andover, MA

Town-Wide Ban On Plastic Bags

Implement Date: January 2, 2019

Unalaska, AK

City-Wide Ban On Plastic Bags

Implement Date: January 1, 2019

Brigantine Beach, NJ

City-Wide Ban On Plastic Bags

Implement Date: January 1, 2019

Solutions from Belvedere Exclusive

As the trend for bans and the imposition of fees for the use of single-use plastic bags grows nationwide, affected consumers and retailers can stay ahead of the curve by using reusable shopping bags such as those produced by Belvedere Exclusive.

Belvedere Exclusive is the premier source for environmentally-friendly reusable tote bags, insulated cooler bags, canvas tote bags, and other related products. All of our products are recycled, recyclable, or biodegradable/compostable.

Not only is this approach good for complying with current and anticipated future laws and being environmentally responsible, but reusable shopping bags imprinted with your company’s logo create brand ambassadors out of your customers, boosting impressions and building brand awareness.

Belvedere’s VALUE Collection

Belvedere offers the lowest cost FOB USA non-woven shopping bags on the market: 100-gram PP non-woven, PP-5 recyclable, fully customized in six different sizes to fully meet your business needs. Our flexible program offers discounts over multiple ship dates, and bags are available in both screen printed and full color all for under $1.00 per bag! Learn More

Belvedere’s ECO Collection

Made from recycled products, these 100-gram Recycled PET non-woven, PETE-1 recyclable bags are fully customizable and come in three different sizes. They’re available in as low as 10 carton increments with three different printing methods depending on art. This is our premium product designed to help you make your eco-statement! Learn More

Get a Quote

We invite you to get a no-strings attached quote on Belvedere Exclusive bags, which are already in use with many high-profile brands around the country.


Close
Enter your email address to receive special offers!
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram