Kill Framingham 10-Cent Bag Fee? Council May Consider It

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham City Council may soon prove that the customer is always right.

As of July 5, businesses that offer single-use paper bags to customers must charge at least 10 cents per-bag. Now two weeks later, a City Councilor wants to repeal the fee after backlash from unhappy shoppers.

The ordinance was first approved by City Council in December 2019 and was an update on the city's 2018 single-use plastic bag ban. The law says businesses must charge 10 cents per paper bag, and allows them to keep the money. The law was supposed to go into effect in January, but was delayed due to the pandemic.

On Thursday, At-Large Councilor Janet Leombruno drafted a proposal to repeal the 10-cent fee, leaving the rest of the ordinance intact. The proposal will likely be sent to the Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee for deeper discussion after Tuesday's Council meeting. Leombruno said she had "numerous conversations" with residents about confusion over the fee.

The new fee has been widely discussed on social media recently, with some residents believing the fee was going into city coffers, and many more saying the fee is a high financial burden.

The purpose of the 10-cent fee was not a revenue generator for supermarkets and other retailers, but as a way to encourage residents to shop with their own reusable bags. Many other nearby communities, including Newton, Worcester and Boston, have fees in place to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags.

Single-use plastic bags that were the norm in supermarkets just a few years ago are now seen as a major environmental hazard. But the paper bags are pretty bad, too. The bags are made from biodegradable, renewable materials, but the manufacturing process is a big polluter, according to a Columbia University analysis.

"As a result of the heavy use of toxic chemicals in the process, paper is responsible for 70 times more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than plastic bag production," the analysis said. "And while 66 percent of paper and paperboard are recycled, the recycling process requires additional chemicals to remove the ink and return the paper to pulp, which can add to paper’s environmental impact."

Framingham's 10-cent fee applies to most retail stores, from supermarkets to jewelry stores. It does not apply to restaurants or events — like bazaars and fairs — operated by nonprofit groups.