plastic bag ban

New York state’s plastic bag ban took effect on March 1, but like much of society, it is now on “pause” as supermarkets and retailers that remain open grapple with other issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

A new state law barring plastic shopping bags went into effect Sunday. Many shoppers said they liked the plastic bags because they have many different second lives.

New York’s ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other outlets takes effect March 1, and stores that haven’t already made the change are gearing up for it. But one food store in Albany has never offered its own plastic bags in its 40-year history, and they say no one has been bothered by that.

On March 1, grocery stores and other retail outlets will no longer be providing shoppers with single-use plastic bags, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration is making a last-minute push to get the word out on the plastic bag ban.

The state’s ban on most single use plastic bags takes effect March 1. Over the holiday weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s environmental agency released regulations on how to carry out the new law, but the new rules have left both environmentalists and the plastics industry fuming.

New Yorkers have only about six months left to get single use plastic bags at the supermarket before a ban goes into effect March 1 and former EPA Administrator Judith Enck says that’s good thing. Enck now runs the Beyond Plastics center at Bennington College, VT and she spoke during a recent conference there. She told WBFO Albany Correspondent Karen DeWitt that more needs to be done.

Wegmans supermarkets are getting ahead of New York State’s upcoming ban on single-use plastic bags.