Plastic bags may be making a comeback in New Bedford. Here's why.

NEW BEDFORD — City council committee members voted Monday to repeal the city's ban on single-use plastic bags for retail sales.

The committee also voted to refer the repeal to the full council to be ratified.

Councilor Brian Gomes made the proposal, saying he wanted to suspend the ban, and then come up with a better plan to deal with plastic bags in the city.

He said residents, particularly the elderly, were having trouble with the paper bags. He said the ban also didn't address many other sources of trash, like Styrofoam cups, and was difficult to enforce.

Paper bags said to frequently rip

Councilor Ian Abreu said the ban's merits were "definitely worthy of a further discussion of where do we go from here."

He said the paper bags not only frequently rip but that some stores were charging a dime for bags. He said additional costs to the stores would be passed on to the consumers.

Trucchi's Supermarket and Market Basket in New Bedford offer plastic bags for sale at a dime apiece. The bags are thicker than the bags banned by the ordinance. Both offer the paper-bag alternatives for free.

What are single-use plastic bags

The single-use plastic bags are defined in the ordinance as being “a plastic film-type bag with or without handles, which is 4 mils thick or less, provided at the point of sale to customers at a business location.”

The ban, which was approved by the council in January 2020, applies to retailers that are at least 10,000 square feet in size or to retailers with two or more New Bedford locations totaling 10,000 square feet or larger.

That includes retail stores, restaurants, pharmacies, convenience and grocery stores, liquor stores, as well as seasonal and temporary businesses.

The ban was implemented in early 2022. Stores were allowed six months to phase out plastic bags in stock.

Fines were $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second and $300 for third and subsequent offenses.

Ban should be implemented on wider basis

Councilor Linda Morad said, "If we're going to do something like this to protect the environment, it should be done on a regional and/or statewide basis. It shouldn't be done by individual cities."

She added, "Paper bags just aren't feasible for groceries."

Councilor Shane Burgo was the lone councilor to speak in favor of the ban, though he said his colleagues had made some good points.

But, he said, the goal of getting away from plastics to benefit the environment was worthwhile.

People are getting used to the ban

Burgo added, "I think a number of people are starting to get used to it. They remember to keep their reusable bags, and at this point I don't think we should go backwards."

The committee also voted to contact state legislators for an update on a statewide-plastic-bag ban's status.

What other communities regulate single-use plastic bags

According to the Sierra Club of Massachusetts, as of May, 2023, 162 Massachusetts cities and towns, representing almost 5 million people or 70% of the state's population, regulate single-use plastic shopping bags:

Abington, Acton, Adams, Amesbury, Amherst, Andover, Aquinnah, Arlington, Ashfield, Ashland, Athol, Attleboro, Auburn, Barnstable, Becket, Bedford, Belmont, Berlin, Beverly, Billerica, Boston, Bourne, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brookline, Buckland, Burlington, Cambridge, Canton, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chilmark, Cohasset, Concord, Dalton, Danvers, Dartmouth, Dedham, Dennis, Dover, Duxbury, Eastham, Easthampton, Easton, Edgartown, Essex, Everett, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Framingham, Franklin, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Great Barrington, Greenfield, Groton, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Hanson, Harwich, Haverhill, Hingham, Holbrook, Hopkinton, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lee, Lenox, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Longmeadow, Lowell, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mansfield, Marblehead, Marshfield, Mashpee, Maynard, Medfield, Medford, Medway, Melrose, Millis, Milton, Nahant, Nantucket, Natick, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, North Andover, North Attleborough, Northampton, Northborough, Norwell, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Peabody, Pembroke, Pepperell, Pittsfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Provincetown, Quincy, Randolph, Reading, Revere, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Seekonk, Sharon, Shrewsbury, Somerville, South Hadley, Southbridge, Springfield, Stockbridge, Stoneham, Sudbury, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Topsfield, Townsend, Truro, Tyngsborough, Upton, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley, Wellfleet, West Springfield, West Tisbury, Westborough, Westford, Weston, Whitman, Williamstown, Wilmington, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester, Wrentham, Yarmouth.

That list didn't include New Bedford.

Mayor Jon Mitchell said he does not support repealing the plastic bag ban, and would veto a full council vote of approval. The council could override such a veto with an eight-vote supermajority.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford City Councilors move to repeal ban on plastic bags