Oregon passes plastic bag ban

Lawmakers in Oregon passed the Sustainable Shopping Initiative (H.B. 2509), banning single-use plastic bags from retail stores and restaurants in the state. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, Oregon’s retail stores and restaurants will no longer provide single-use checkout bags, according to a news release from Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality.

Additionally, the state’s retail stores must, in most instances, charge at least 5 cents for paper bags (with 40 percent or more postconsumer recycled content), reusable plastic bags and reusable fabric bags. Restaurants may still provide paper bags at no cost.

Under H.B. 2509, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality is responsible for preparing a legislative report in 2025 on customers’ use of bags at grocery stores. The department has also created a webpage as a resource for local governments, businesses and the public to understand the basics of the new bag requirements. 

According to Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality, the state adopted a plastic bag ban to encourage residents to switch to reusable or recycled paper bags so the state can reduce the number of bags that are used once and thrown out. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality states that “When plastic bags end up in recycling bins, they can contaminate the recycling stream and endanger the safety of workers who must untangle them from recycling equipment.”