City Hall – Today the City Council will vote on legislation to require retail stores to impose a fee of no less than five cents for plastic and other bags provided to customers. The fee goes into effect October 1.
Bag Fee
New York City pays an estimated $12.5 million to transport 91,000 tons of plastic bags and paper carry-out bags to landfills in other states each year. New Yorkers use 9.37 billion carryout bags per year, the vast majority of which are not recycled. Plastic bags get stuck in storm drains, exacerbating flooding and sewage discharges into waterways, and are the fourth most commonly found type of litter on U.S. beaches.
Introduction 209-A, sponsored by Council Members Margaret Chin and Brad Lander, would require retail and grocery stores to charge no less than 5 cents for plastic and other bags. The proposed charge would be retained by the store to cover the cost of providing bags and customers who bring their own bags would not be charged. The legislation also includes robust informational outreach components and requires giveaways of reusable, recyclable bags in local communities.
The bill includes exemptions for take-out or delivery orders from restaurants, produce, and prescription medications. In addition, stores must waive the charge for providing paper or plastic bags for transactions where the customer is using food stamps to avoid additional barriers to food security. Emergency food providers, such as food pantries, would be exempt from the charge.
“New York has never shied away from the goal of being an environmentally responsible city,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. For too long, plastic bags have clogged our storm drains, littered our greenspaces, and tangled in our trees. With this legislation, we can take a step toward a cleaner and sustainable city by incentivizing New Yorkers to not to add to the billions of carry out bags currently being used each year.”
