The City of Pittsburgh unanimously passed a plastic bag ban in April of 2022 in an effort to promote a cleaner and more sustainable community. The ban will go into effect as of October 14, 2023.

A statement regarding the ban on the pittsburghpa.gov website reads, “Beginning October 14, 2023, all retail establishments (grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, big box stores, etc.) operating within the city of Pittsburgh are prohibited from providing a single-use plastic bag or a non-recycled paper bag to a customer at checkout or through delivery.”

Retailers within the city are free to provide paper bags for a minimum of $0.10 per bag, the fees from the paper bags will be kept by the retailers. The paper bags are required to contain a minimum of 40% post-consumer recycled content and no old-growth fiber. Customers are being encouraged to switch to reusable bags in order to prevent litter and avoid bag fees.

Retailers have been required to post signage at all points of sale to inform customers of the coming ban since mid-July. Retailers are required to post notices of the plastic ban bag at all points of sale when it goes into effect.

The City of Pittsburgh is considering an allowance for businesses to liquidate their current plastic bag inventory until January 1, 2024, without repercussions. Certain plastic bags are exempt such as garbage bags, candy bags, and bags used to wrap meat and fish. Dry cleaners and pharmaceutical products are exempt from the ban.

For those wondering why plastic bags should be banned, Americans use up to 100 billion plastic bags a year, often only one use per bag. They are rarely recycled properly, which results in them littering streets, clogging storm drains, and increasing the amount of microplastics in the soil and water supply.

Plastic bags are also harmful to wildlife when they end up in oceans. Dolphins, seals, and seabirds can get tangled up in them. Plastic bags are also inadvertently ingested by animals which can often be fatal as it blocks their digestive tracts. Plastics take hundreds, if not thousands of years to break down in the environment.

Businesses found in violation of the policy will receive a written warning from the City of Pittsburgh. If the business does not comply thereafter, fines will be applied starting at $100 for the second violation. Customers can contact the City of Pittsburgh Response Center 311 to report a business that is not in compliance.