Philadelphians will soon face 10-cent paper bag fee at grocery stores, markets and more

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Philadelphians will need to pay 10 cents for paper bags at supermarkets, shops and corner stores as early as January.

The single-use bag fee, meant to limit paper bag use and reduce litter, passed City Council late last month. It became law after Mayor Cherelle Parker declined to sign or veto it Thursday.

Parker’s administration supported the bill’s intent but worried it would burden mom-and-pop businesses, low-income residents and Philadelphians of color.

Proponents of the fee argue that residents of lower-income neighborhoods are already forced to pay for bags at many grocery stores. They say stores that don’t charge for bags pass along the cost of bags to customers through food prices, and the new fee would be avoidable if shoppers simply bring their own bags.

“There is no foundation or basis in the idea that fees on bags will hurt low-income people,” said Maurice Sampson, Eastern Pennsylvania director at the nonprofit Clean Water Action, during a committee hearing last month. “It is an assumption that is made out of the gate.”

Single-use plastic bags are already banned in the city. A city-commissioned study found the 2021 ban effectively reduced plastic bag use but significantly drove up paper bag use.

The new law requires retail establishments in the city to charge customers a 10-cent fee for any single-use bag provided at the point of sale. The fee will not apply to bags used for take-out, drive-through orders, deliveries or bags that enclose utensils or condiments. The new law also clarifies that establishments cannot provide thicker single-use plastic bags.

The mandatory fee takes effect in 60 days, according to the text of the bill that passed Council.

Former Mayor Jim Kenney pocket vetoed a similar bill at the end of his term. A fee was struck from the original plastic bag ban over concerns from then-Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez that it would amount to a regressive tax, which disproportionately burdens low-income residents. 

If Parker had vetoed the bill, it’s unclear whether Council would have overridden that veto. It takes 12 votes to override a mayor’s veto, and the bag fee bill only received 10 votes when it passed Council late last month.

Two council members were absent during that vote. One, at-large Councilmember Kendra Brooks, supports the bag fee bill. The other, at-large Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, had not said how she would vote.