Pittsburgh’s single-use plastic bag ban to take effect this weekend

PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh’s single-use plastic bag ban, an initiative that has been in the works since 2021, is set to take effect this weekend.

According to the mayor’s office, all retail establishments operating within the city will be prohibited from providing single-use plastic or non-recycled paper bags to customers at checkout or through delivery starting on Saturday, Oct. 14.

“We must continuously examine our practices to ensure we’re pushing Pittsburgh toward the promise of a better tomorrow, and an important part of that is working to ensure that our city processes are environmentally conscious,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “By enacting this ban on single-use plastic bags, we can reduce the amount of microplastics in our soil and water, decrease our city’s reliance on fossil fuels, and improve our recycling processes.”

The ban was first introduced as a piece of legislation in Nov. 2021 and was later unanimously passed by City Council in April 2022.

Under the legislation, retailers will be able to provide customers with a recycled paper bag for a fee of no less than 10 cents.

We’re two weeks away from the rollout of the City of Pittsburgh’s Plastic Bag Ban. Learn more about the bag ban and what it means for our city!https://t.co/WCi1ovunP3 pic.twitter.com/yUFaLFtA5l
— City of Pittsburgh (@Pittsburgh) October 5, 2023

Local businesses can continue to use up their remaining stock of plastic bags without penalty through Jan. 1, when strict enforcement of the legislation will begin, the mayor’s office said.

“We want to ensure that this ban is not a burden on our small businesses across the city, so it’s important to us that they have a grace period to get into compliance,” said Environmental Enforcement Manager Tobias Raether. “Also, I want to be clear that the city is here to be a partner in this transition. Our enforcement efforts will be focused on warnings and providing businesses with the resources and support they need to get into compliance.”

The mayor’s office said limited types of plastic bags will still be available for individual purchase or under certain exceptions, including:

Any bag used inside a retail establishment by a customer to deliver perishable items to the point-of-sale, such as:

Bags used to package bulk fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, or candy.
Bags used to contain or wrap meats or fish.
Bags used to contain unwrapped prepared foods, bakery goods, flowers, newspapers, dry cleaning, or similar items.
Bags used to package medications distributed through a pharmacy.