Right in our backyard last night, exciting things went down at the Portland City Council meeting. City councilors voted to charge a disposable bag fee AND to ban polystyrene food and drink containers. Consumers will be charged a nickel for every paper or plastic disposable bag used, starting April 15, 2015.
The affirmative votes came after two hours of heated testimony and was split 6-3. Not surprisingly, business owners had strong opposition, while private citizens largely spoke in support of the measures.
The bag fee applies to stores where food sales are at least 2% of gross sales. The fee will be charged for both plastic and paper bags, and the stores get to keep the money.
While more than 120 other communities across the U.S. have banned plastic bags or imposed fees, polystyrene bans are relatively uncommon (though neighboring Freeport has had a polystyrene container ban for about 20 years).
Portland businesses affected by the new laws have until April 15, 2015 to change their packaging.
