State officials distributed more than 2,000 reusable shopping bags at stores in Dover and Wilmington Friday in advance of Delaware’s total ban on plastic bags this summer.
In 2019 the General Assembly banned single use plastic bags statewide, but allowed retailers to provide thicker plastic bags designed to be reused.
DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin said that plan didn’t work as well as intended.
“So we just had thicker bags that were going into the landfill. The General Assembly passed the bill, the governor signed, saying you can’t use plastic bags of any thickness,” Garvin said.
Garvin said on average each person uses more than 400 plastic bags annually.
“Everybody knows the days of driving down the street and seeing a plastic bag wrapped around in a tree branch. It’s important that we kind of eliminate that from the environment.”
DNREC distributed 700 reusable bags in Wilmington and more than double that in Dover.
Officials plan to distribute more in Sussex County sometime in June.
Delaware’s total plastic bag ban goes into effect on July 1st.