Cambridge, MA Single-Use Items: Plastic Bag Rules (2026)

The Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance, Cambridge Municipal Code (General Code) Chapter 8.68 (Ord. 1366, adopted March 30, 2015), requires that if a retail establishment provides checkout bags to customers, such bags must be either a recyclable paper bag or a reusable bag (§ 8.68.040(A)). A recyclable paper bag must be 100 percent recyclable with at least forty percent post-consumer recycled content, labeled as such; a reusable bag must have handles and be made of polyester, polypropylene, cotton or other durable material, or plastic at least 3.0 mils thick (§ 8.68.030(A)).

Retailers must charge customers a per-bag fee for each recyclable paper or compostable plastic bag, set by regulation from the Commissioner of Public Works, must state that charge on the receipt as the 'checkout bag charge,' and keep the money themselves (§ 8.68.040(C)). The rule applies to any commercial enterprise selling at retail, from restaurants and pharmacies to convenience stores and liquor stores, but excludes nonprofit or religious bazaars, produce bags, dry-cleaner bags, newspaper bags and frozen-food wrap (§ 8.68.030(A)(3), (7)). The Commissioner can grant a two-year hardship exemption where no reasonable bag alternative exists, compliance would violate a legally protected right, or the retailer needs time to draw down existing plastic-bag inventory, with monthly inventory reports required during the exemption (§ 8.68.060).

Enforcement runs through the Department of Public Works, the License Commission, the Inspectional Services Department and the Health Commission, and a violation carries a fine of up to $300, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense (§ 8.68.070).