Oregon HB 2509 (2019, ORS 459A.695) bans single-use plastic checkout bags at all retailers and restaurants statewide, including Portland. Stores must charge at least five cents for any paper or thicker reusable bag, retained as store revenue.
Effective January 2020, ORS 459A.695 prohibits retailers and restaurants from providing single-use plastic checkout bags. Allowed alternatives include paper bags with at least 40 percent recycled content, reusable plastic bags at least four mils thick, or fabric. Each bag must carry a minimum five-cent charge that the retailer keeps. SNAP and WIC recipients are exempt from the fee. The law preempts city ordinances, but Portland had passed its own ban in 2011 (PCC 17.103), now superseded by the statewide rule. Produce, bulk, and meat bags inside the store remain allowed.
Providing single-use plastic checkout bags, charging less than five cents for an alternative, or failing to track exempted SNAP transactions can result in DEQ enforcement, fines up to one hundred dollars per violation per day, and consumer complaints.
Portland, OR
Portland Ordinance 190444 (effective March 2022) bars restaurants from providing plastic utensils, condiment packets, napkins, or stirrers unless the custome...
Portland, OR
Oregon SB 543 (2021, ORS 459A.876) bans expanded polystyrene foam food containers, cups, packing peanuts, and coolers statewide effective January 1, 2025. Po...
See how Portland's plastic bag rules rules stack up against other locations.
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