Philadelphia's 'Overdue' Ban On Single-Use Plastic Bags Goes Into Effect Friday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's single-use plastic bag ban goes into effect Friday. It's going to be a big change for businesses and shoppers.
The city says people who live in Philly use about 1 billion bags each year. Many of them end up in the streets and waterways, and they are trying to fix that.
A plastic bag ban is only two days away in Philadelphia. Businesses have until Friday to phase them all out.
Single-use bags are used in places like supermarkets, convenience stores and liquor stores.
"I think it's ultimately going in the right direction for the city," Matt Steelman of Northern Liberties said.
In December 2019, legislation was originally passed to ban plastic bags. It was then delayed because of COVID since small businesses were already struggling.
But now, starting Friday you can get used to paper ones. The plastic bags will be swapped out, all in an effort to better the environment and reduce waste in the city.
"It's good. I think it's overdue. It's important that people bring their own bags so that you save the environment and it's a really easy thing to do," Julianna Goldring said.
"I think it's a great idea. I think plastic is not a good thing and it just clogged up recycling, gets into the ocean," one woman said.
Some people CBS3 spoke with say they got comfortable with bringing their own reusable bags because the others just start adding up.
"Yeah, they just go under the kitchen sink. It's definitely wasteful so we try to bring reusable bags," Goldring said.
The city will start with warnings. After April 1, any business that doesn't comply will get fined.
The ban starts on Friday. If you are a business that uses plastics bags and need more information, click here.
