More than half of Philadelphia businesses are not charging for paper bags, in violation of city law, a statewide environmental nonprofit organization found.
PennEnvironment, which recently surveyed 84 establishments, is calling on Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to better educate shop owners and enhance enforcement of existing regulations.
Since January, businesses have been required to collect at least 10 cents for each paper or reusable bag provided to customers. Excluded from the mandate are paper bags used for delivery, drive-through and take-out food orders. Stores retain the fee revenue.
Philadelphia banned single-use plastic bags in 2019, though enforcement did not begin until two years later.
Of the retailers visited by PennEnvironment researchers, 55% were not adhering to some portion of the updated ordinance. For stores required to apply the 10-cent charge, only 48% were, according to the group’s report.
“A 45% compliance rate with this law is unacceptable,” said Faran Savitz, PennEnvironment’s zero waste advocate. “It turns what should be a significant step in protecting our communities, protecting our environment, it turns it into a half measure.”
Savitz, during a news conference Thursday, said violators were spread across Philadelphia — not limited to one geographic area. City Councilmember Mark Squilla, who authored both bag laws, added that “a lot of the big businesses do comply, but a lot of the smaller ones do not.”
Squilla noted that the laws are part of a yearslong effort to crack down on plastic bag pollution and encourage residents to bring their own reusable bags to stores.
“We know that change of behavior is what is needed for making this law successful, but we also know that enforcement plays a major role in doing this,” he said. “If the carrots don't work and the incentives of the 10 cents per bag is not enough, then enforcement needs to be stepped up.”
The city's Department of Licenses and Inspections has received 33 complaints this year in relation to the plastic bag ban, compared to more than 200 in 2022, spokesperson Kandyce Stukes told Metro. She said L&I inspectors' primary concern is "public health and safety."
"Their second concern is to support our commercial districts, not stifle their ability to operate," Stukes added, in a statement. "The enforcement of a monetary cost for alternative bag types falls outside of our inspectors’ jurisdiction. An inspector is required to witness a bag being distributed in order to state a violation occurred."
She went on to say that the department has a Business Education Enforcement program, which distributes regulatory materials along commercial corridors.
PennEnvironment found that 75% of businesses are no longer using plastic bags, a big improvement compared to earlier studies. The organization’s analyses in 2021 and 2023 determined that more than half of chain retailers and food trucks were still offering plastic.
“It's better for our health and the environment to use one thing a thousand times rather than use a thousand things once,” remarked Ryan Rabenold, of the Pennsylvania Resources Council, which aims to eliminate waste.
PennEnvironment and L&I encourage residents to report violators of the bag laws through the 311 system.
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