Plastic Bag Ban Approved in City Council Committee

There’s still one more step before the ban becomes law.

Yesterday, Philadelphia City Council voted to ban plastic bags during a Licenses and Inspections hearing.

The original bill had a ban on plastic and 15 cents for all other bags. However, the fee was removed from the bill due to a compromise with Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez saying the fee was regressive to low-income residents.

According to WHYY, there is backlash on removing the free. “No fee is a mistake,” Maurice Sampson, the Eastern Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action. “If you can get a bag easily, you’re not going to look for a reusable bag.”

Plastic bags do NOT belong in the recycling bin, as we’ve said 8000 times before.

Editor’s note: The plastic bag hearing VIP was Ron Whyte, of Deep Green Philly & Trash Academy:

One of the 2019 plastic bag ban efforts was spearheaded by Trash Academy, who created a social media and billboard campaign across the city.

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