Minnesota Environmental Groups Push for Bag Fees

The ordinances would place a nickel fee on disposable bags.

MINNEAPOLIS–Environmental groups and activists in two Minnesota cities are advocating for a new strategy on plastic bag restrictions.

Minneapolis and Duluth advocates are pushing for fees for paper and plastic bags. They want customers to think about whether they’re needed.

Bag It, Duluth and other environmental groups pivoted to this tactic after Minnesota prohibited cities from banning plastic bags in 2017.

The ordinances would place a nickel fee on both paper and plastic disposable bags.

But Duluth’s council revised the ordinance to apply only to plastic bags.

The efforts in the two cities are part of a nationwide movement to reduce the use of plastic bags.