The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is letting retailers and shoppers in the state know their bagging options are changing.
Starting July 1, retail stores in Delaware, retail stores but not restaurants will no longer provide plastic bags at checkout. An updated plastic bag ban, passed by the Delaware General Assembly last year expands the 2019 ban to include all retail stores, regardless of size, and bans the distribution or sale of all plastic film carryout bags at checkout. The previous law excepted small non-chain stores from the mandate.
DNREC has also launched a markeing effort known as BYOB – Bring Your Own Bag.
Under Delaware’s 2019 plastic bag ban, the law allowed 2.25 millimeter-thick plastic film bags to be considered reusable. Last June, the legislature enhanced the state’s plastic bag ban to include all plastic film carryout bags regardless of thickness. Starting July 1, retailers can choose to offer paper bags, or reusable bags made from cloth or other durable fabric with stitched handles. The law also allows retail stores to charge customers for use of the bags at checkout.
DNREC encourages the use of the cloth or fabric bags brought by customers to businesses where they shop, while advising that these reusable bags should be washed or cleaned after each use by turning them inside out and wiping them down with a cleaning agent or disinfectant.
The one-time plastic bags were known for fouling roadsides and waterways while being blown by the wind into trees and even powerlines.
The goal of the enhanced bag ban is to reduce roadside, waterway, and seaside litter; to save landfill space; to increase recycling efforts, and help recycling facilities avoid delays when plastic bags get stuck in machinery.
”Prior to the enactment of this law in 2019, it was estimated that each Delawarean used approximately 434 plastic bags each year, many of which wound up as waste in our landfills,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “By realigning the legislation to further limit the use of film carryout bags, we are reducing waste that all too often ends up along on our roadway, in our waterways, and along our shorelines – all detrimental to our environment including harmful effects on our wildlife and marine creatures.”
All retail stores that continue to provide exempt bags are required to maintain an At-Store Recycling program for plastic and film bags, including cereal box liners, newspaper sleeves, and single-use produce or meat and fresh seafood bags. The drop-off locations should be visible and accessible within the store. Bags that are no longer reusable or unwanted should be recycled at these locations. DNREC Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances also reminds Delawareans that plastic bags should never be placed in the bins that are part of the state’s curbside recycling program, but should instead be returned to the stores the bags came from for recycling.
Recycling rates for plastic bags have been low with some grocery stores not making recycling areas highly visible for those seeking to recycle the bags.
Consumers and retailers can find more information about the enhanced plastic bag ban at de.gov/bags.
