UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — We care about the environment here at WUSA9, and we know a lot of you do, too. But changing laws – and differences between Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia – can make things confusing.
Multiple viewers have emailed us recently to ask about the recently enacted plastic bag ban in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
“It seems all restaurants and stores are now charging 10 cents for bags at their establishments," Marc wrote in his email. "McDonalds, Chipotle, 7/11 and others are charging the bag fee. I recently made a purchase in a men’s store and they charged the fee too. I thought the law was directed more at grocery stores to stop issuing plastic bags. What’s the requirement?”
The Prince George's County Council first considered the Better Bag Bill in May 2023 and approved it the following month.
The new law took effect Jan. 1, 2024. It bans plastic carry-out bags and forces retailers to collect a 10-cent fee for all paper bags or reusable bags it provides. The law also defines a retailer as “a store, a food service facility, or any other establishment that provides bags to its customers as a result of the sale of a product,” whether it is for-profit or non-profit.
The law contains exceptions; among them, for plastic bags used to wrap certain meats, produce, and plants, for dry cleaning businesses, for small hardware items such as bolts and washers, and for certain live insects and small animals. Paper bags used by pharmacies to wrap medications are also exempt from the law.
That is different from the law in Washington D.C., which charges 5 cents for plastic and paper carryout bags at restaurants and stores that sell food, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores.
The State of Virginia passed a law that allows local governments to implement plastic bag laws. The City of Alexandria and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun all passed such laws. The laws force grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores to collect 5-cent taxes on plastic bags issued at the point of sale, but paper bags are not included, and restaurants are not subject to the laws.