Newtown Borough Council To Vote On Single-Use Plastics Ordinance

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council on Tuesday, March 12 is expected to adopt a new ordinance that will regulate single-use plastics in the borough.

Under the ordinance, retail and restaurant establishments would no longer be allowed to provide customers with single-use plastic bags. Instead, they could offer their customers recyclable paper bags or reusable bags for a fee of at least 15 cents. The fee would be retained by the business.

Also under the ordinance, businesses and restaurants would only be allowed to give out single-use plastic straws and utensils upon request.In addition, expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food containers would be prohibited.

If adopted, the new regulations would go into effect in 180 days. The delayed implementation is designed to give the borough time to educate the business community and the business community time to educate its customers and prepare for the change.

At the 90-day mark, businesses would be required to post signage alerting customers to the upcoming change, which is scheduled to take effect in September.

The ordinance is similar to one adopted by Newtown Township in December and is scheduled to take effect on April 9, but with several notable differences.

"Our ordinance would also exempt dry cleaner bags, which the township included in its ordinance," said Councilor Julia Woldorf. "We're also exempting newspaper bags so people don't have to worry about their papers getting wet."

The proposed ordinance also provides an additional 60 days for businesses and restaurants to prepare for the change, said Woldorf, noting that the township provided 120 days while the borough will be extending that to 180 days.

Under the ordinance, Woldorf said businesses experiencing undue hardship complying with the ordinance will be able to apply for an exemption of up to one year to use up its supplies of plastic bags and Styrofoam containers.

"It's a good ordinance and it's for the betterment of the community," said Woldorf.

If adopted, Newtown Borough would be the latest municipality in Bucks County to pass an ordinance banning single-use plastics. In 2023, Doylestown Borough implemented a ban on single-use plastic bags. Solebury Township has also voted to ban single-use plastic bags along
with plastic straws and polystyrene food containers.