Division 9. Plastic Bag Reduction

The world's oceans are taking in million tons of plastic from land-based sources annually and plastic bags are among the top five plastic products collected in beach cleanups in the United States.

At major grocery chains in Prince George's County, as of 2022, a small percentage of shoppers do not use single-use carryout bags provided at no charge by retailers. Nearly all of these bags are plastic, resulting in County residents using hundreds of millions of plastic carryout bags annually.

Littered plastic bags end up in waterways where they are ingested by marine life, injuring, and killing fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Single-use plastic bags remain in the environment for lifetimes, degrading over time into microplastic particles that absorb toxic chemicals, are found in the deepest ocean trenches, pristine natural areas, and house dust, and are impossible to clean up, and that humans are ingesting as much as a credit card's worth of plastic weekly.

Plastic carryout bags are not recyclable at the County's recycling facility and impose costs to county government and taxpayers in the form of removal of litter and repair and wear-and-tear on recycling machinery due to the improper disposal of plastic bags in recycling bins.

Single-use plastic bags are made from fossil fuels and their production results in harmful greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of their life cycle from extraction to production to disposal, contributing to climate change.

The manufacture of single-use paper bags destroys forests that mitigate climate change, involves toxic chemicals, and generates significant air pollution.

Single-use carryout bags are provided free of charge by many retail establishments as a service, but shoppers are actually paying for them as part of their grocery bill, in a higher price for merchandise. Single-use carryout bags provided by retail establishments impose unseen costs on consumers, local governments, and taxpayers, and constitute a public nuisance.

The County Council finds that the use of single-use carryout bags by consumers at retail establishments is detrimental to the environment, public health, and welfare of County residents, and that it is in the best interests of maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of County residents and visitors to reduce the distribution of single-use carryout bags and incentivize the use of reusable bags by prohibiting provision of single-use plastic carryout bags and requiring retailers to charge at least 10 cents for each paper bag.

In this Division, the following words have the meanings indicated.

After December 31, 2023, a retail establishment may not provide a plastic carryout bag to a customer.

The Department shall conduct an education and outreach campaign before and during implementation of the provisions of this Division. This campaign should include: (1) informational mailers to and direct contact with affected businesses; (2) distribution of information through County internet and web-based resources; and (3) news releases and news events.

The Department may collaborate with organizations in the environmental community and other interested parties to inform community members of the provisions of this Division.

Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a retail establishment that violates the provisions of this Division is subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $500.

The Department of the Environment shall oversee the enforcement of this Division and may partner with inspectors of other departments to address violations, as determined in this Division.

The County Attorney or any affected party may file an action in court with jurisdiction to enjoin repeated violations of this Division.

The Director or their designee may grant a retail establishment a waiver from the requirements of this Division for a period of up to 3 months if the Director determines that achieving compliance under this Division would cause the retail establishment an undue hardship or a practical difficulty not generally applicable to other retail establishments in similar circumstances.

The Department shall submit an annual report to the County Executive and County Council that includes a list of all enforcement actions taken and penalties issued under this Division.