As of January 1, 2024 Rhode Island no longer allows single-use plastic bags to be used in retail stores. Customers must now either bring their own reusable bags or use/buy paper bags at the store. Eighteen of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns previously had plastic bag bans in place.
Some types of bags are excluded from the ban, including the bags used to hold vegetables, pastry, bread, or meat in supermarkets, newspaper delivery bags, laundry or dry cleaning bags, and store-bought garbage bags, among others
For more detailed information on the plastic bag ban, see the Guidance Document for Plastic Waste Reduction Act.
For a copy of the regulations, click here.
The South Kingstown Town Council adopted the Plastic Reduction Ordinance in the spring of 2018 with the purpose to protect wildlife and coastal ecosystems of South Kingstown and to promote the health, safety and welfare of South Kingstown's residents and visitors. Beginning January 1, 2019, the ordinance prohibited business establishments from providing or making available any plastic carryout bag to members of the public for any sales transaction or other use.
In March 2022, the Narragansett Town Council voted to ban single-use plastic bags. The purpose of the ban was to improve the terrestrial and marine environment in and around the Town of Narragansett, as well as the health, safety and welfare of its residents by reducing consumption of single-use plastics in Narragansett. It also encouraged the substitution of reusable or biodegradable materials in local retail transactions.