Pedestrians carry plastic bags in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Philadelphia and three other municipalities in Pennsylvania sued the state over what they say was a covert abuse of legislative power to temporarily halt local bans or taxes on plastic bags handed out to customers by retailers.
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Pedestrians carry plastic bags in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Philadelphia and three other municipalities in Pennsylvania sued the state over what they say was a covert abuse of legislative power to temporarily halt local bans or taxes on plastic bags handed out to customers by retailers.
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Lancaster Township became the first municipality in Lancaster County to ban single-use plastic bags at its meeting Monday night.
Supervisors passed the ordinance — promoting the use of reusable bags and prohibiting commercial establishments from using single-use plastic ones — without discussion. Council member Ben Bamford was absent.
Starting Jan. 1, retailers can charge for paper bags or provide them for free. Any fees collected would go to the retailer and must be identified as a “paper bag charge” on the customer receipt.
Similarly, retailers can charge for reusable bags provided to the customer during a sale. Customers who bring their own bags cannot be charged.
The ordinance has some exemptions, including the thin bags used to carry produce or meat inside a grocery store, bags used to contain live animals at a pet store, newspaper delivery bags and laundry or dry cleaner bags.
Lancaster Township Manager Bill Laudien said the township spent a year studying the implementation and effect of single-use plastic bag bans in other Pennsylvania communities before concluding that such bans generated a positive environmental impact and had a limited effect on businesses.
The nonprofit environmental organization Surfrider Foundation reports that 471 local plastic bag ordinances have been adopted in 28 states.
The momentum behind single-use plastic bag bans has been slow to spread in Pennsylvania, but the trend is accelerating after a moratorium imposed by the state Legislature on such bans expired in 2021.
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