PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new survey by PennEnvironment found low compliance with Philadelphia’s ban on single-use plastic bags.
Philadelphia estimates that the plastic bag ban kept 200 million single-use bags out of the waste stream in its first year, but environmental activists think the city could be doing more.
The survey of 84 businesses in the city found that a quarter of the businesses were ignoring the ban, and 55% were not charging for paper bags. The ban’s sponsor, Councilman Mark Squilla, said the charge is an essential element to the legislation.
“The goal was to change behavior, in that people will then bring bags with them and have reusable bags at all times,” said Squilla. “We know that changing behavior is what is needed to make this law successful.”
The bill put the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) in charge of enforcement, and Mayor Cherelle Parker split the department in two to make it easier for L&I to keep up with policing quality of life violations such as plastic bag use. Despite the changes, Faran Lavitz with PennEnvironment still thinks the city should be doing more.
“Greater enforcement is needed to deter businesses that will continue to violate the law and show it doesn’t pay to be a bad actor,” said Savitz.
In a statement to KYW Newsradio, L&I said 33 complaints have been received for non-compliance with the plastic bag ban so far in 2026. That’s compared to the more than 200 the department said it received in 2022.
L&I also said that the enforcement of a monetary cost for an alternative bag (like paper) “falls outside of our inspectors’ jurisdiction.” The inspector also actually has to witness a plastic bag being distributed to report a violation.
It also encouraged residents to file complaints to 311.
