The City has banned plastic bags to:

• Reduce litter. Philadelphians use about one billion plastic bags each year. If not discarded properly, these bags litter our streets, waterways, and commercial corridors.
• Save money and keep staff safe. Plastic bags are not recyclable curbside but are often placed in recycling bins. Once at the recycling facility, the bags get caught in the equipment. This is dangerous for recycling center staff and costs the City money. Each year, plastic bags account for over 150 hours of lost staff time at our recycling facility, at a cost of $300,000.

Banning plastic bags will make our city cleaner, reduce waste, and save taxpayer dollars. No bag option is without impact, so reducing waste means cutting down on the use of paper bags as well. We urge all retailers to encourage their customers to shop with reusable bags.

The ban will affect all retail establishments of all sizes in Philadelphia that make bags available for carryout items (such as food, clothing, home goods, etc.) or for delivery. These businesses include indoor and outdoor establishments that offer food or other products to the public for sale, including:

• Supermarkets
• Convenience stores
• Shops
• Service stations
• Department stores
• Clothing stores
• Restaurants
• Food trucks
• Farmers’ markets
• Delivery services.

The legislation prohibits retail establishments from providing for checkout or delivery:

• All single-use plastic bags. This includes bags created through a “blown film extrusion” process. The blown film extrusion process is the main way that all plastic bags that use plastic film are created, regardless of the thickness of the plastic. Thus, this legislation bans all bags we commonly refer to as single-use plastic bags, no matter their thickness.
• Bags made from PLA (polylactic acid) created through a blown film extrusion process.
• Any paper bag that does not contain at least 40 percent recycled content and does not meet the labeling criteria set in the legislation.

You can still provide reusable bags and compliant paper bags that meet certain criteria.

Reusable bags are permitted if they are:

• Made of nylon, cotton, cloth, polyester, or another material that is specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuses.
• Made of plastic, are not created through blown film extrusion, are more than 2.25 mils thick, and are specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuses.

Compliant paper bags are permitted if they:

• Contain at least 40 percent post-consumer recycled content.
• Contain no old-growth fiber.
• Display the word “recyclable” or “recycled content” in a highly visible manner.
• Are labeled with the name of the manufacturer and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content of the bag in an easy-to-read font size.

View a list of compliant bag vendors.

Yes, the rule applies to carry-out paper bags of all sizes.

The following bags are exempt:

• Dry cleaner bags
• Bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage bags or to contain pet waste or yard waste
• Bags used inside a retail establishment by a customer to deliver perishable items to the point of sale (including bags used to package bulk items, meats or fish, unwrapped prepared foods, bakery goods, flowers, potted plants, or similar items).
• Bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs.
• Newspaper bags.

Beginning July 31, 2021, and for six months after, retail establishments must post at all points of sale signage informing customers that the establishment will no longer provide single-use plastic bags and non-recycled content paper bags starting October 1, 2021. The signage must explain what types of bags and purchases are affected and provide any other information the City may require by regulation. You can download signs in multiple languages.

You must use all existing single-use plastic bags and non-compliant paper bag stock by October 1, 2021. Chain stores with outlets outside of Philadelphia can ship their bag inventory to those outlets. Retailers may also consider donating their remaining stock to nonprofit reuse stores or restaurants outside of Philadelphia.

Yes, businesses can decide whether to provide bags for free or for a cost.

• October 1, 2021–April 1, 2022: The City will write warnings for businesses using non-compliant bags.
• April 1, 2022 onward: The City will issue violation notices for businesses using non-compliant bags. These notices carry a minimum penalty of $150.

Each violation of the ordinance is subject to a separate fine. If businesses repeatedly or egregiously violate the ordinance, the City may take them to court and ask the judge to impose additional penalties.

Contact Philly311 to report a business that is not in compliance. You can call 311 or visit phila.gov/311.

At this time, there is no link between reusable bags and COVID-19. While some cities and states have pulled back on plastic bag bans, and certain retailers have stopped allowing shoppers to use reusable bags in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that reusable bags pose a greater risk of transmitting the COVID-19 virus than single-use plastic bags. In fact, scientists have pushed back on the plastics industry to declare the safety of reusable bags. View the CDC’s guidance on cleaning and disinfection practices and the EPA’s list of recommended disinfectants for coronavirus.

GovLabPHL, an initiative led by the Mayor’s Policy Office, is working with City departments and external research partners to evaluate the success of the plastic bag ban.

This evaluation will examine the impact of the ban on:

• Individuals’ behavior (what bags they use).
• Plastic bag litter and waste in Philadelphia.

Any resulting reports will be provided to the Chief Clerk of Council and posted on a City webpage within two weeks of finalization of the report.