Plastic bags and Styrofoam may soon be outlawed in the state of Colorado.
A new bill by State Reps. Alex Valdez and Lisa Cutter propose that residents would have to pay at least ten cents for a single-use plastic bag or recycled paper bag at every store in Colorado, reports CBS4.
The change could start as early as next September. By September 2023, stores would only be allowed to sell paper bags.
The bill would also ban Styrofoam by January 2022 and would be phased-in at schools by 2024, according to CBS4.
The bill is prompted by evidence that single-use plastics are polluting the environment and poisoning us says Valdez.
"Some studies say that we are eating up to a credit card a day in the form of microplastics and pieces of plastic," he told CBS4. "Many schools are serving lunches on Styrofoam trays.”
The bill would be especially hard on restaurants that pack to-go orders in Styrofoam containers and put them in plastic bags.
"It will increase costs on an industry that is down on average 40 percent over the year," Nick Hoover with the Colorado Restuarant Association told CBS4. "It doesn't feel like the right time."
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