KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — King of Prussia Mall will soon fall under a ban on single-use plastic bags, utensils and straws, along with polystyrene cups and containers.
Upper Merion Township’s board of supervisors passed the ordinance last week, becoming the 20th municipality in Pennsylvania to take action to reduce the use of plastic.
The ban on plastic bags and straws at commercial establishments will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024 across the township — including at the mall, which is one of the largest in the country.
Plastic utensils will be phased out on July 1, 2024.
Officials say there are exceptions carved out for anyone with disabilities — for example, if someone needs a plastic straw to drink.
Township Supervisor Gregory Waks hopes others take note.
“If that means somebody’s saying to them, ‘If they could pass this in the municipality that contains the King of Prussia Mall, why can’t we do this in our municipality?’” he said.
The Upper Merion Township Environmental Advocacy Council has been working on the ordinance since April 2019, and chair Zachary Davis said the move has been widely backed.
“We’ve discussed with residents, small businesses, the King of Prussia Mall management, the King of Prussia Business Improvement District, as well as neighboring communities that have gone through the same process. The overwhelming feedback from all parties is that this is popular and widely supported,” he said.
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The King of Prussia District says 18.5 million bags are used by Upper Merion residents annually. PennEnvironment estimates KOP Mall shoppers go through 12 million plastic bags each year.
Faran Savitz, a conservation associate with PennEnvironment, believes this law will have a massive impact.
“With the mall and the volume of retail in Upper Merion Township, the real numbers are probably much higher. And that doesn’t even count the polystyrene use, the utensils, straws,” he noted.
“I think that sends a pretty clear message to others that if one of the biggest retail hubs in the state — not even the state, one of the biggest retail hubs in the country — can work and help pass an ordinance like this, I think anyone can do it.”
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