The new law prohibits stores from giving out single-use bags and places an 8-cent fee on paper or reusable plastic bags. | Natalie Board/Shutterstock
Washington state will ban thin plastic bags and require thicker film bags to be made with post-consumer plastic.
Gov. Jay Inslee on March 25 signed Senate Bill 5323, which prohibits stores from giving out single-use bags and places an 8-cent fee on paper or reusable plastic bags. The bill also requires reusable film bags to incorporate at least 20% post-consumer plastic. That requirement is in place until July 1, 2022, at which point the minimum increases to 40% recycled plastic.
A separate bill that mandates post-consumer plastic be used in beverage containers passed the legislature but hasn’t yet been acted on by Inslee. That legislation, House Bill 2722, requires beverage manufacturers to use an average at least 10% post-consumer content in bottles starting in 2022, 25% starting in 2025 and 50% starting in 2030.
The legislature approved both bills in March.
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