BOSTON – Massachusetts
might become the first state to outlaw plastic bags if a measure before the
Legislature is passed, the Lowell
Sun reports. The Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Committee
pushed the House and Senate versions of the bill forward after a hearing that
had no one testifying from the plastic bag industry.
Both proposals
would forbid single-use plastic bags at retail locations with more than 4,000
square feet. Smaller stores would have an exemption, as would plastic produce
and bakery bags available within supermarkets.
State Sen. Marc
Pacheco, one of the committee’s co-chairs, said he favored a statewide ban
because of numerous communities enacting their own ordinances. “I think there
is a growing movement across society [for such bans],” he said.
The bills
reflect a growing interest in communities around the country to ban plastic
bags or to assess use of those bags with a per-bag tax. Rhode Island and California
are also looking into similar bans. In Massachusetts,
Manchester by
the Sea and Brookline
have plastic bag bans. The plastic bag ban recently went into effect in Austin, Texas,
while Sacramento’s
proposed ban is moving forward.