Plastic bag bans are coming to the Philly suburbs. Here’s what you need to know.

Upper Merion businesses can no longer hand out some single-use plastic products to their customers due to an ordinance that went into effect on Monday.

The first phase of the ban prohibits businesses from using or distributing single-use carryout bags, as well as expanded polystyrene food service products. It also bans single-use plastic straws, but businesses should still give customers straws if they are specifically asked for, according to the ordinance. The second phase of the ban will go into effect July 1, and prohibit businesses from distributing and using plastic utensils.

The regulation is needed because of “growing concerns about environmental sustainability and the harmful impact of single-use plastics on our planet,” according to a statement on the Upper Merion Township website.

A ban that prohibits businesses from distributing single-use plastic bags to customers will also go into effect in Lower Merion on Jan 21. The ordinance was adopted in June and affects many businesses, including restaurants, clothing stores, convenience stores, drugstores, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores. Establishments exempt from the ban include dry cleaners, food banks, food pantries, and senior citizen centers.

Lower Merion businesses that provide customers with compliant paper bags or reusable bags will need to charge customers at least $0.10 a bag, according to the ordinance. Establishments that violate the ban will receive a warning on the first infraction, and then a fine of up to $100 on the second offense. The penalty will grow to a maximum fine of as much as $500 for a fourth offense or any thereafter.

The bans in Upper and Lower Merion come as lawmakers have been working to strengthen the Philadelphia plastic bag ban, which went into effect in 2022 and prohibits the distribution of all single-use plastic bags as well as some paper bags.

Last month, Philadelphia City Council approved a bill that would require businesses to charge a 15-cent fee to customers who need a paper bag at checkout. According to Councilmember Mark Squilla, since the adoption of the plastic bag ban in the city, the use of paper bags has increased.

“Additional efforts are needed to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags” reads the text of the bill.

Former Mayor Jim Kenney did not sign the bill before he left office on Dec. 31. The new City Council will have to reintroduce it if its members want it to advance to the desk of Mayor Cherelle Parker, according to Billy Penn. Parker took her oath of office on Tuesday.

Despite the plastic bag ban in Philadelphia, some food carts and trucks are still handing customers their orders in plastic bags, according to a study from PennEnvironment, a statewide nonprofit environmental advocacy organization. The study found that 21 out of 25 food trucks surveyed between August and October 2023 were using plastic bags.

At the time, Faran Savitz, an advocate at the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, said in a statement, “Plastic bags are usually used once for just a few minutes, and from there they end up as litter polluting our city and our environment.”