During its July 13th meeting, the Whitemarsh Township’s Board of Supervisors voted to adopt an ordinance that prohibits the use of single-use plastic bags in retail establishments in the township. The ordinance will go into effect on October 11, 2023.

The video from the meeting below is cued to the section about the ordinance.

Below is an outline of the specifics of the ordinance:

• A ban on single-use plastic bags and non-recycled content paper bags.
• Allows reusable bags meeting specified criteria and paper bags with a minimum of 40% post-consumer recycled content.
• A minimum fee of $0.15 must be charged for each bag given to customers. This fee is retained by the business and noted on the receipt.
• Plastic straws and utensils will be provided only upon request by the customer.
• Some types of bags are exempt including bags used for produce, meat, fish, poultry, pre-prepared foods, baked goods, dry cleaning, newspapers, and trash bags, and live animals (such as crickets).
• Signage will be required to be posted to educate consumers.

You can view the full text of the ordinance here.