Dedham Delays Plastic Bag Ban

DEDHAM, MA — Dedham's plastic bag ban was supposed to go into effect this month, but officials announced on Friday that the ban is being delayed.

According to the language of the bylaw, the town was supposed to provide public notice of the ban five months before it went into effect, but it never did. The town may still move forward with a public notice of the ban in the coming months and give a date in 2021 when the ban will go into effect.

Officials said town departments will work to educate residents about the ban and perform outreach to retail and other businesses that will be affected. The plastic bag ban bylaw was approved by Town Meeting in November 2019 and by the Attorney General earlier this year.

Single-use bags have significant impacts on the environment, including litter, contamination of recycling streams, clogging storm drains, and killing aquatic and land animals. More than 130 Massachusetts municipalities regulate single-use plastic shopping bags. In 2019, the Massachusetts Senate deliberated a bill to create a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, but those legislative discussions have not advanced in 2020.