New York State lawmakers have imposed a statewide ban on plastic bags and a 5-cent charge on paper bags. The ban will begin in March of 2020. New York is the second state to announce a ban on plastic bags after California announced it back in 2016.
From the New York Times:
New York State lawmakers have agreed to impose a statewide ban on most types of single-use plastic bags from retail sales.
The ban, which is expected to be part of the state’s budget bills that are slated to be passed by Monday, would forbid stores to provide customers with single-use plastic bags, which are nonbiodegradable and have been blamed for everything from causing gruesome wildlife deaths to thwarting recycling efforts.
The plan, proposed a year ago by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would be the second statewide ban, after California, which banned bags in 2016. Hawaii also effectively has a ban in place, since all the state’s counties bar such single-use bags.
New York’s ban, which would begin next March, would have a number of carveouts, including food takeout bags used by restaurants, bags used to wrap deli or meat counter products and bags for bulk items. Newspaper bags would also be exempted as would garment bags.