Boston's Plastic Bag Ban Is Back: What To Know

CHARLESTOWN, MA — Don't forget take your reusable bags to the grocery store: Boston’s plastic bag ban is back.

In March, the commonwealth placed an emergency order that forced the 139 cities and towns in Massachusetts with bans on single-shopping bags to hold off on enforcing them. In July, the state lifted that order. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh had previously ordered a hold on the city's ordinance beginning in March and set to end on Sept. 30. Now that it's October, the ban is back.

Shoppers will now have to bring their own reusable bags to stores or pay 5 cents for any paper or recyclable bag they use. Businesses that continue to use plastic face fines of $50. The city has said those facing hardships can apply for a temporary exemption.

Boston's original plastic bag ban ordinance went into effect in 2018. The effort was a way for the city to conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste and marine pollution and keep plastic bags from the clogging the city's waste disposal and recycling systems.

The ordinance read in part:

"Plastic bags have significant adverse impacts on the environment and their light weight makes them particularly susceptible to air currents that land them in the streets, gutters, abandoned lots, and trees throughout the city."

Read more:

• Boston's Plastic Bag Ban Set To Resume October 1
• Massachusetts Lifts Ban On Reusable Bags (July)

• Newton Businesses Concerned Over Sudden Return Of Plastic Bag Ban