Under the proposal, food pantries would also have their reprieve from the bag ban extended to January 2023.
More than five months after the ban began, online shoppers say they have accumulated piles of reusable bags, which they are either provided with during each order or must buy now. According to the ban, single-use plastic bags are not allowed and paper bags are no longer an option for most grocery stores and all big box stores.
The measure would require stores in the state to take back excess reusable bags, which they must then reuse or recycle. A new addition to the bill, based on feedback provided to state lawmakers, would also provide stores the option of donating those reusable bags to food pantries. “We had proposed a five-year exemption for paper bags and cardboard boxes. That was cut down to three years and that’s because the testimony was that the industry can do this. They can react to it and put together better in a faster period of time, so don’t make it too long,” state Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, who“This was always a work in progress,” added Smith,The bill would need to be passed by both the state Senate and Assembly before the governor could decide whether to sign it into law.
Smith said the bill does not include a refund for the reusable bags customers must currently pay — which can be anywhere from $1 to $3 per bag — with each order.
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