Dedham’s Ban Of Single-Use Plastic Bags Delayed

Press release from the Town of Dedham:

September 25, 2020

The plastic bag ban bylaw, approved by Town Meeting in November 2019 and by the Attorney General earlier this year, will not go into effect in 2020. It had been set to go into effect this month.

According to the language of the bylaw, the Town must provide public notice of the ban five months before it can go into effect. That public notice has not been accomplished.

The Town may move forward with public notice of the ban in the coming months and establish a date in 2021 on which the ban will go into effect. Town departments will work to educate residents about the ban and perform outreach to retail and other businesses that will be affected.

Single-use bags have significant impacts on the environment, including litter, contamination of recycling streams, clogging storm drains, and killing aquatic and land animals.

More than 130 Massachusetts municipalities regulate single-use plastic shopping bags. In 2019, the Massachusetts Senate deliberated a bill to create a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, but those legislative discussions have not advanced in 2020.

This press release was produced by the Town of Dedham. The views expressed here are the author’s own.