Philly plan for nickel charge on single-use bags — paper or plastic — on hold

Philadelphia City Councilman Mark Squilla has decided to hold a bill that would have added a five-cent surcharge on every single-use bag, whether paper or plastic.

“Right now we just don’t have the support from Council as a whole on it,” Squilla said. “I think we need to tweak the bill a little more to gather support among the members.”

Squilla said he did not want to risk the bill being voted down.

“We’re going to work with the office of sustainability and look at different ways to tweak the bill,” he said.

Some concerns centered on how low-income shoppers would deal with the surcharge.