DOVER, Del.- The clock is ticking for many businesses in the First State to stop providing customers with single-use carryout plastic bags.
Gov. John Carney on Monday signed legislation that largely prohibits retailers in Delaware from providing single-use carryout plastic bags to customers, a measure intended to reduce the amount of plastic bags making their way to landfills, roadways and stormwater systems.
The ban applies to stores with more than 7,000 square feet of sales space, and chain stores with three or more locations having at least 3,000 square feet of sales space.
Restaurants are excluded from the bag ban, which also allows exceptions for bags used to wrap meat, fish, flowers or plants, or that contain unwrapped food items. The legislation is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.