Get ready to pay a disposable bag fee at more Boulder stores

More stores in Boulder will charge a disposable bag fee starting next month. The Boulder City Council expanded its disposable bag fee ordinance to comply with the state's Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. 

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, all large stores are required to charge a 10-cent fee for every single-use bag used at the checkout. The fee will be charged at all stores in Boulder in 2024.

"The bag fee encourages daily reuse over single-use," said Jamie Harkins, the city's sustainability senior manager of circular economies, in a statement. "Every plastic and paper bag saved means less burden on our recycling facilities, energy system and the planet. Saying goodbye to disposable bags also slows the fill of our landfills and saves energy and resources required to make them." 

The City of Boulder said that shoppers can avoid paying the disposable bag fee by bringing their own reusable bags to the store or asking cashiers to skip bagging at checkout.