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

Adopted as Ordinance No. 833 in 2019, Section 38-41 bars retail establishments from providing a thin-film plastic bag, defined at § 38-40 as a non-biodegradable bag under 4.0 mils thick, to customers as a checkout bag. Stores remain free to sell or give out recyclable paper bags or reusable bags, and customers can still bring their own bags of any type or carry goods away without one. Section 38-42 exempts bags customers use inside the store for bulk items, frozen foods, damp items like flowers, laundry or dry-cleaning bags, multi-packs meant for home storage or waste, and product packaging bags.

The board of health enforces through noncriminal disposition under G.L. c. 40, § 21D: a first violation draws only a written warning under § 38-43(c), with no monetary penalty, but § 38-43(d) escalates to $100 for a second violation, $200 for a third, and up to $300 per day for a fourth and each subsequent violation within 12 months. Section 38-44 lets the board of health grant a retail establishment a temporary hardship deferment of up to one year, renewable, if there is no reasonable bag alternative, compliance would violate a legally protected right, or the store needs time to draw down existing plastic-bag inventory (with monthly inventory reports required).

Enforcement of the article itself did not begin until 180 days after the mayor's approval, per § 38-45, with an effective date noted as July 16, 2019.