Massachusetts Politicians Weigh Statewide Plastic Bag Ban

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BOSTON (AP) — A legislative panel is considering a statewide ban on single-use plastic shopping bags in Massachusetts.

Under the legislation scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday by the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee, retail establishments would be barred from providing customers with the single-use bags after Aug. 1.

Stores would be allowed to charge customers 10 cents for recycled paper bags or 10 cents or more for reusable grocery bags.

A number of communities in Massachusetts, including Boston, already ban plastic shopping bags that critics say cannot be recycled and add to the state's solid waste and pollution problems. The legislation sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Acton and Democratic Rep. Lori Erlich of Marblehead would extend that prohibition to all cities and towns.