PROVIDENCE – The statewide ban on single-use plastic bags is back before the legislature under a new bill filed in the R.I. Senate on Wednesday.
The bill sponsored by Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio prohibits retailers from carrying single-use plastic bags or non-recycle paper bags, replacing them with reusable cloth or plastic bags with handles. The bill does not include a fee for reusable bags.
If approved, the bill would supersede municipal plastic bag bans, which 16 of the state’s 39 municipalities have enacted, according to ecoRI news.
Legislation in 2019 proposing a statewide plastic bag ban failed to advance out of the House Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources after passing in the Senate. The 2019 bill originally contained a 5-cent-fee on paper bags which was later removed from both House and Senate versions. The Senate version of the bill also required reusable bags to have stitched handles.
