GOOD DAY FOR THE EARTH

New York State Set to Ban Plastic Bags

Some exemptions to the ban include dry cleaner garment bags and newspaper bags.

New York State is set to impose a statewide ban on most single-use plastic bags from retailers, The New York Times reports. Lawmakers reportedly agreed to make the ban part of the state’s package of budget bills in an effort to remove non-biodegradable trash from the streets and the environment. The ban was reportedly proposed last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and is set to take effect next March. Take-out bags used by restaurants, bags to wrap deli products, dry cleaner garment bags, newspaper bags, and bags for bulk items are all reported exemptions to the ban. The plan would also allow counties to charge a 5-cent fee on paper bags, with the revenue going towards New York’s Environmental Defense Fund and a fund to provide for reusable bags for consumers. New York will be the second state to impose a plastic bag ban, after California. All of Hawaii’s counties also have banned single-use bags.