USA: Portland, Maine places fee on single-use bags and bans polystyrene foam carryout food packaging

15 July 2014

On June 16 2014, the City Council of Portland, Maine’s largest municipality, approved banning the use of polystyrene foam packaging for foods and imposing a five-cent fee on all single-use carrier bags.
The five-cent fee goes into effect on April 1, 2015. It applies to all plastic and paper single-use bags including those considered compostable or biodegradable. Only reusable bags are exempt from the fee. The ban on polystyrene foam food packaging ban also goes into effect on July 1, 2015. Raw seafood packaging is exempt from the ban. Fines for violations are the same as those prescribed for violations of the single-use bag fee ordinance (State Recycling Laws Update, 26 June 2014).
Click here to download the amendment to Portland city code (220 kB).

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