Philadelphia, the sixth-largest U.S. city by population, is moving forward with a ban of single-use plastic bags, marking an opportunity for promotional products distributors to pitch branded, reusable totes in the region.

On Thursday, Philadelphia’s City Council voted 15-2 to prohibit stores, restaurants and delivery services from packing goods in plastic. Instead, starting July 2, 2020, businesses will have to provide free paper or recyclable versions, WHYY reported.

Philadelphia City Council Passes Bill To Ban Plastic Bags From Retail Stores, Deliveries https://t.co/nN69Cr6WZ9

— CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) December 12, 2019

The bag ban was introduced last June by Councilmember Mark Squilla. It’s Philadelphia’s fourth attempt in 12 years to ban plastic bags. The Clean Air Council has estimated that Philadelphia uses 1 billion plastic bags a year. Advocates of bag bans point to the environmental hazards – beyond just litter – caused by disposable plastic bags, which often end up in local waterways and the ocean, threatening sea life.

“Plastic bags are one of the most littered items on the streets of Philadelphia,” Nic Esposito told WHYY. Esposito is the director of Mayor Jim Kenney’s Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet. “In addition, they wreak havoc on our recycling systems by jamming up machinery. If we are to achieve zero waste by 2035, plastic bags are one of the top single-use plastics to be eliminated.”

Philadelphia’s plastic bag ban will apply to supermarkets, stores, restaurants and other eating establishments. Those who ignore it could face fines between $150 and $300. Dry cleaning bags, pet waste bags and bags used to pack deli and produce are exempt from the ban. Philadelphia will also conduct a $100,000 study on bag use by retailers, checking in six months before the law goes into effect, six months after and again in July 2021.

In recent years, momentum behind bans on single-use plastic bags has grown, with numerous cities and states passing them. Providence, RI, has a bag ban that went into effect earlier this year. Statewide prohibitions on single-use plastic bags exist in Vermont, Maine, California, New York and Hawaii.

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