Massachusetts is homing in on single-use plastic as part of a $3.64 billion environmental bond bill.
As CBS News reported, the potential bill includes a prohibition on single-use plastic bags and a 10-cent charge for paper bags that customers may choose instead of plastic.
"The legislation responds to an increasingly littered natural world by removing single-use plastic bags from retail checkout counters," Massachusetts Senate members said in a statement. "Instead, shoppers would be able to walk away with a reusable plastic bag or a recyclable paper bag."
Retailers and a Plastics Environmental Protection Fund would each pocket five cents of the paper bag surcharge under the proposal.
This isn't many state residents' first foray with plastic bag bans. Over 160 municipalities, including Boston, already regulate single-use plastic bags, per the Sierra Club. Despite that, it also notes residents use up to 2 million bags per year.
More controversial might be the idea of charging for paper bags. As CBS News reported, local supermarket giant Stop & Shop did an about-face on charging for paper bags in 2024 after consistent customer backlash over the first year of the practice.
The bill does have exceptions to paper bag fees for stores with 10 or fewer employees in a single location. Plastic bag bans have been on the table before in Massachusetts, but this could be the first time the bill becomes law.
If it does, there's significant evidence that it will come with public health and environmental benefits. Plastic bag bans can greatly reduce how much plastic ends up contaminating waterways.
Once in the water, plastic threatens marine life and drinking water quality, as well as making its way deeper into nature. Over time, bags can leach toxic microplastics that increasingly end up in food and water sources.
Banning plastic bags is an important step to slowing rampant plastic pollution and preserving the local environment.
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To that end, the rest of Massachusetts' bill allocates hundreds of millions in protections for dams, conservation properties, coastal infrastructure, climate resiliency planning, and more.
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