Since Pittsburgh’s Oct. 14, 2023, plastic bag ban, 82% of businesses have ceased distribution of the single-use bags.
The figure comes from local advocacy group PennEnvironment’s Research and Policy Center. Staff and volunteers surveyed 50 businesses across the city, says Zachary Barber, a clean air advocate with PennEnvironment.
“Before this measure was passed, PennEnvironment estimates that the City of Pittsburgh used something like 100 million single-use plastic bags every year,” Barber says. “This law was passed to help tackle that waste, which is clogging our waterways, littering our communities, harming our wildlife and even ending up in our own bodies.”
Barber says the findings are a huge step toward a zero-waste society.
The study found that 93% of surveyed retail establishments — including grocers, convenience stores, clothing and electronics stores — had gone plastic-free.
“Unfortunately, the news was not quite so strong in the city’s restaurants, which are far lagging behind,” Barber says. “We found [68%] compliance at restaurants in the city — only 15 of the 22 restaurants we surveyed were not giving out plastic.”
Barber adds that food delivery was the most common culprit of plastic bag use.
PennEnvironment hopes to increase compliance with the citywide ban with three goals: increase business education, increase deterrence and enforcement efforts, and focus on the restaurant industry.
The organization also recommends that residents report businesses using plastic bags through Pittsburgh’s 311 nonemergency line or the city’s online complaint portal.
“I know if I came home with a 67% on my report card, my mom would send me to my room and tell me to study,” Barber says.
An ordinance for a similar bag ban throughout Allegheny County was introduced at an Oct. 24, 2023, county council meeting. That ordinance “Expired by Rule” on Dec. 31, 2023.
Barber says he’s hopeful the countywide ban moves forward.
“After the [Philadelphia] ban passed, there was a snowballing out across the Southeastern PA region, and now about two dozen towns … have a ban,” Barber says. “We want to see similar progress here.”