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June 17, 2022 (PROVIDENCE, RI) – Rhode Island’s House of Representatives has passed an important bill that would ban single-use plastic bags in the state. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response.
“Plastic bags are made from dirty fossil fuels and have no place in our daily lives,” said CLF Senior Attorney Kevin Budris. “More than half of Rhode Island’s population already lives in a community with a plastic bag ban. It’s time to pass a strong statewide law that stops this blight on our environment and the climate for good.”
The bill would prohibit retailers from providing single-use plastic bags and include the critical language requiring reusable bags to have “stitched handles.” This language prevents thin plastic bags from simply being replaced by thicker plastic bags and is in numerous city and town ordinances thought the state.
Stopping plastic production at its source is the only way to address plastic pollution, and single-use plastic bans like this bill are an important step in the right direction.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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