The state Legislature passed the ban on single-use plastic bags with bipartisan support in 2020, but the pandemic has delayed its implementation.
On March 9, 2020, 33 state senators voted to pass Senate Bill 5323, making Washington the ninth state to ban single-use plastic bags. Two days later, the World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Along with in-person gatherings, the statewide plastic bag ban became an early victim of the pandemic.
“The pandemic has thrown off so many plans with our loved ones, our lifestyle and with this legislation,” said the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent, affectionately dubbed “The Single-Use Plastic Warrior” by her colleague, Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle.
The new law, which was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2021, isn’t dead, supporters say, but enforcement has been indefinitely postponed.
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