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Council Seeks to Tighten City's Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban with New Reporting Requirements

Official:Amending Chapter 9-4900 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Prohibition on Use of Certain Bags By Retail Establishments,” to further define the term single-use plastic bag and add reporting provisions, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Squilla

Introduced: October 28, 2021

: Committee on Licenses and Inspections

business environment plastic bags

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2020–2023 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill amends the city's ban on single-use plastic bags to further define what a 'single-use' bag is and adds reporting requirements for retailers. If the use of single-use bags doesn't decline by 80% after one year, a 15-cent fee will be imposed per bag.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Further defines the term "single-use plastic bag" to include bags made from plastic that is less than 2.25 mils thick or plastic made through a blown-film extrusion process.
Requires the Office of Sustainability to conduct a study on the use of single-use plastic bags, other plastic bags, non-recyclable paper bags, recyclable paper bags, and other bags by retail establishments at three points in time: before the effective date, six months after the effective date, and one year after the effective date.
Requires retail establishments to report on their use of single-use plastic bags if the use of single-use bags does not decline by 80% after one year. 4.