A bill to ban single-use plastic bags in large retail stores, including grocery stores, advanced May 30 when the Maine State House voted 91-52 to advance the bill. It goes next to the Senate, but more votes are needed to enact the bill.

Holly Stover (D-Boothbay) was a sponsor of the bill. She cited the marine economy as a driving factor in the slew of plastic control bills now moving through the legislature. “The health of our marine life is essential to the economy in Maine,” she said. “And our pollution is putting that at risk. Too often, plastic bags break down into toxic microplastics in the marine ecosystem.” Stover said plastic bags are the fourth largest source of plastic pollution in the oceans. Plastics break down and accumulate in the tissues of fish and other marine organisms, causing serious harm to the ecosystem.

This bill, which  has broad support from both parties and the affected retailers and environmental organizations, is expected to pass. Last year, it failed to pass in the Senate by one vote, but since then, the Senate has swung to the Democrats, and its chance of passage is much higher.

Twenty-four Maine towns and New York, California, and Hawaii have passed plastic bag bans.

Stover’s bill only affects large retail stores with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space.  In Lincoln County, this mostly affects grocery stores, some hardware stores, and certain Reny’s locations. The larger grocery chain stores have already set up programs encouraging reusable bags, and all are offering paper bags for five cents or reusable plastic bags for 10 cents. The average cost of a reusable bag, bought in store, is a dollar.

The cost per single use plastic bag, according to Christine Cummings, of the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association, is about 2.5 cents, while a paper bag costs a retailer about 11 cents.  The bill would let retailers charge five cents per paper bag, but some customers, including those using SNAP benefits, are exempt from the fee. Also exempt are dry cleaning bags and the thin bags for loose produce. Bags bought with the material already in them, such as ones to hold wood pellets, soil and feed,  have no charge.

Most retail shops in Lincoln County are small, and are below the limit for the bill. Many of the larger stores have already switched to paper or reusable bags because their largest markets already have plastic bag bans, or already have the process in place to make the switch. Hannaford’s and Shaw’s are already dealing with local bans in Bath, Brunswick and Damariscotta.

Ames Supply, like most True Value stores, already uses paper bags for the most part.

Reny’s decided in 2017 to move to paper bags. Adam Reny called the decision “a moral imperative.”

Retailers’ groups spoke up about the need for consistency in regulation. Cummings said they would rather have one statewide law than different requirements in each town.

Rep. Nicole Grohoski (D-Ellsworth), co-sponsor of the bill, said it would help keep recycling streams, especially paper, free of plastic contamination, which reduces its value in the global marketplace. One of the reasons China has stopped importing American recycling is the high percentage of plastics. Lincoln County, which once had a strong funding source in  recycling, has found its revenues drop due to the loss of foreign markets, especially China.

Another effort toward doing away with plastics also made strides in the restaurant industry April 30,  when Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill proposed by Mick Devin (D-Newcastle) doing away with single-use foam containers for food and beverages. Maine became the first state to eliminate single-use foam containers. Hospitals, seafood shippers and stores that sell pre-packaged meat are exempt from the ban. The law takes effect in 2021.