Pittsburgh approved legislation banning single-use plastic bags. | Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
Pittsburgh approved legislation banning single-use plastic bags. | Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
Plastic shopping bags will be a thing of the past in Pittsburgh next April, as the city became the latest municipality to ban their use by retail businesses at checkout or delivery.
The Pittsburgh City Council approved the ban on single-use bags last week, according to a press release on the city's website.
"This landmark piece of legislation will sharply curtail litter, mitigate stormwater risk, reduce the amount of microplastics in our soil and water, improve the city's recycling efficacy, and begin to break our dependence on fossil fuel-based products," Councilperson Erika Strassburger said, according to the press release. "A dedicated group of stakeholders has been working for several months in order to craft an effective and equitable policy, and the feedback we received during working sessions was incorporated into a much-improved final bill."
Strassburger originally introduced the legislation last November. It was held for several months to iron out details related to equity and implementation, and adjustments were made during the city council's Standing Committee recently, the press release said. The legislation was unanimously recommended out of committee and passed with a 7-0 vote during the council's regular session.
Under the new legislation, retailers will be able to provide consumers with a recycled paper bag for a fee of 10 cents or more, but will waive the fee for people who use vouchers from the Women, Infants, and Children program or an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. Limited types of plastic bags will be available for purchase. Businesses will be required to post information about bag fees inside the stores.
Americans use 100 billion plastic bags each year, and production of the bags requires approximately 12 million barrels of oil, the press release said. Pollution from the manufacturing process impacts the environment and public health.
Plastic bags can cause litter in communities, collect in waterways, and clog storm drains; this can increase flooding in neighborhoods during wet weather, according to the press release. They can also obstruct the city’s recycling machines and take 500 years to decompose in a landfill.
The law will take effect in April 2023.
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