DENVER — Single-use plastic bags will be leaving large Colorado stores in 2024.
The new law is part of House Bill 21-1162 that the Colorado General Assembly enacted in 2021.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Colorado stores and retail food establishments, places like large chain grocery stores and convenience stores, will be prohibited from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers.
The law says restaurants, as well as small stores that operate solely in Colorado and have three or fewer locations, are exempt from the bag ban.
On and after Jan. 1, 2024, a store in Colorado may furnish only a recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale at a fee of 10 cents per bag — or a higher fee imposed by the municipality or county in which the store is located.
Starting Jan. 1, 2023, and continuing to Jan. 1, 2024, stores and restaurants in Colorado could furnish a recycled paper carryout bag or a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale if the customer pays a fee of 10 cents per bag or a higher fee adopted by the municipality or county in which the store is located.
House Bill 21-1162 act does not apply to materials used in the packaging of pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements or any equipment or materials used to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements.
The carryout bag fee will also not apply to a customer that provides evidence to the store that the customer is a participant in a federal or state food assistance program.
Polystyrene take-out containers
House Bill 21-1162 also prohibits a retail food establishment, on and after Jan. 1, 2024, from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for use as a container for ready-to-eat food in Colorado.
Retail food establishments that purchase expanded polystyrene products before Jan. 1, 2024, may continue to use the products until their supply is depleted.
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