Massachusetts State Senate Passes Plastics Ban

A ban on single-use plastic items like bags and straws is closer to becoming reality in Massachusetts after the state Senate approved a broad bill addressing plastics last Thursday. The Senate passed the bill by 38-2.

The ban, which has now moved to the state House of Representatives, would ban plastic bags at retailers, charge a $0.10 fee per paper bag used and require straws and plastic utensils to be made available only by request. The $0.10 fee per paper bag would allocate 50% of the collected fee toward retailer expenses and the other 50% for environmental initiatives, South Coast Today reported.

The bill would also establish a recycling program for large plastic items, like car seats, according to a report from The Associated Press.

“This vital legislation is another step forward towards eradicating plastics, a top environmental offender, in our everyday life,” said Sen. Michael Rodrigues, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, as reported by The Associated Press.

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In addition, the bill will make a previous executive order from Gov. Maura Healey, banning state agencies from buying single-use plastic bottles, into law. That executive order was signed in September 2023, PBS reported.

If the bill passes, it will make Massachusetts the 13th state to establish a plastics ban. The state already has many plastic restrictions in place locally, with around 70% of the population across over 160 towns and cities under bans on single-use plastic bags.

According to the Sierra Club, Massachusetts threw out about 900,000 tons of plastic in 2022 alone, and a ban on single-use plastics could help reduce the amount of plastic going to the state’s landfills each year.

In a report published in early 2024, researchers found that plastic bans, particularly bans on plastic bags, have made a big impact in the U.S. Bans in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Vermont — along with bans in Portland, Oregon and Santa Barbara, California — have cut single-use plastic bag consumption by around 6 billion bags per year.

“Today, state leaders have chosen to take a big step toward reducing waste and protecting our neighbors and local wildlife from the dangers of excessive plastic usage,” Jess Nahigian, state political director for Sierra Club Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Plastics harm our ecosystems and communities. Cutting down on plastics is a necessary step toward achieving our state climate goals and creating a more sustainable home for future generations of Massachusetts residents. This is an important and vital step in plastic reduction, and Sierra Club Massachusetts encourages the Massachusetts House to pass this bill.”