Washington shoppers will pay 4 cents more per plastic grocery bag starting in January. But the bags themselves won鈥檛 get any thicker for at least another two years as lawmakers fine-tune the state鈥檚 single-use plastic bag restrictions. 聽The price increase is a part of a law passed in 2020 banning some thinner, single-use plastic bags statewide and creating regulations for retailers offering carryout bags to customers.
Approximately 80,000 Washington businesses are affected by the law, according to the state Department of Commerce. 聽Under the law, paper and plastic bags have to be made with 40% recycled content, and plastic bags must be 2.25 mils thick and marked as 鈥渞eusable.鈥� The standard thickness for plastic grocery bags was previously 0.5 mils.
Customers are required, under the law, to pay a fee for a paper or plastic bag. The revenue from bag fees stays with the retailer to help cover the costs of meeting the state requirements. The law also allows for single-use compostable bags, which don鈥檛 have a per-bag fee. The law set the initial fee for both paper and plastic at 8 cents per bag, but pre-scheduled a price increase for plastic bags to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. Once in effect, plastic bags will cost 12 cents per bag, while the fee for paper bags will stay at 8 cents.