Plastic Bag Ban

Yes. Nonprofit fraternal, civic, war veterans’, religious, or charitable organizations, and fire companies that do not serve food to the public more often than four (4) days per week can continue to provide plastic carry-out bags to their patrons.

Other exceptions include package bulk items, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items; plastic bags containing or used to wrap frozen foods, meat, fish, or cheese whether prepackaged or not; plastic bags used to contain or wrap flowers, potted plants, or other damp items; plastic bags used for unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods; plastic newspaper delivery bags, plastic dry-cleaning bags; or plastic bags containing ice.

Pharmacies and opticians will not charge a paper bag fee for prescription items.

No. The ordinance does not apply to Centreville Farmers’ Market vendors or cottage food businesses.

Yes. However, for food sanitation and handling purposes restaurants may not allow customers to use their own reusable carry-out bags. Instead, restaurants will provide paper bags, but will not charge the 10¢ per paper bag fee.

A single-use plastic carry-out bag is defined as a plastic bag that is provided by a retail establishment to a customer at the point of sale and is not a reusable carry out bag.

The way it will work is as of January 1, 2024, retail establishments can no longer provide single-use plastic bags to shoppers. Businesses may offer shoppers paper bags for a fee of at least 10¢ per bag for each paper carry-out bag or reusable carry-out bags that it provides to customers. This bag fee will be kept by the retailer. Shoppers can bring their own reusable bags for purchases to avoid the 10¢ per bag fee and save businesses the cost of the paper bags.

The over-arching goal of the single-use plastic bag ban is to support environmental and litter control concerns. Specifically, single-use plastic bags generate significant public costs in disposal, contaminate the soil and water that pose significant threats to marine life, birds, and human health; and represent a significant hazard to marine animals and birds.