Newton Businesses Concerned Over Sudden Return Of Plastic Bag Ban

NEWTON, MA — With the Massachusetts Department of Health suddenly reinstated the statewide plastic bag ban Friday, the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber of Commerce is voicing concerns for local merchants.

On March 25, Gov. Charlie Baker suspended the statewide ban, allowing businesses to offer any kind of bag — including single-use plastic — without a fee.

Greg Reibman, the chamber president, said the Department of Health is likely to lift this order Monday, leaving some merchants scrambling. In a letter to the mayor and City Council, he called for merchants to be given more time to prepare.

"As you may recall, the chamber was supportive of our paper bag ordinance, but we are concerned by the suddenness of this, preferring that there would be a grace period of at least 30 to 60 days to allow merchants to sell through at least some of their existing stock of plastic bags and time to restock paper bags, if needed," Reibman said. "I’m not sure what levers would need to be pushed to allow for this consideration quickly, but I’d like to be able to communicate something about this to our merchants ASAP."