A newly聽Senate-passed bill聽would聽ban plastic bags and implement a fee for paper bags at stores across Massachusetts. Under the bill, stores would not be allowed to provide a customer with a bag unless it is a recycled paper bag or a reusable bag.
Stores would also have to charge at least 10 cents per recycled paper bag, 5 cents of which would go to the retailer and 5 cents would go to a state Plastics Environmental Protection fund, with an exception for some small stores.
The Massachusetts Senate passed the ban as part of the聽Mass Ready Act, a sweeping $3.94 billion environmental bond bill based on legislation filed by Gov. Maura Healey. It passed in a vote of 36 to 3 on April 15. 聽The bill will next head to the House, where the fate of the plastic bag ban is unclear.