Three years after requiring retailers to charge for disposable bags, Denver has collected $5.76 million, although the growth rate of that number is expected to taper off.
The city said it has spent nearly $1 million of that, and a survey underway will help direct where the remainder of the money goes.
Denver started requiring retailers to charge 10 cents per disposable bag in July 2021. Retailers keep four cents of each bag to cover the cost of compliance, and the remaining six cents go to Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience.
Denver’s law was followed by a similar one statewide, which banned single-use plastic bags as of this January, although retailers were allowed to use up pre-existing stock through May. Retailers are still allowed to offer non-plastic bags for the fee.
The state law has specific exemptions, such as for retailers with less than three stores, which municipalities can choose to make stricter. Denver’s fee is required for all retail stores no matter the size.
Last year, 31.8 million disposable bags were reported to the city, down from 37.25 million the previous year.
“We’ve seen a decline of about 5 million (plastic) bags used. That is the purpose of this fee, to encourage folks to bring their own bags instead of purchasing a new disposable bag every time they go shopping,” said Natalie Lana, disposable bag fee program administrator in the Denver climate office.
Denver bag fee collections peaked in 2022, when the city took in $2.37 million — which doesn’t include the four cents per bag kept by retailers. The figure dropped below $2 million last year. Through the first three months of 2024, Denver collected $330,000 — on pace for about $1.32 million annually.
The city said 157 citations have been issued to businesses for failing to comply with the bag fee since the program began. Citations start at $150.
Of the $5.76 million total collected, roughly $950,000 has been spent, according to the city, with about $487,000 going toward education and administration of the program.
The rest has been spent on three programs run by the office. Reuse Denver Incentives, which has cost about $100,000, offers small retail food businesses up to $600 worth of reusable service ware, such as plates, cups and cutlery. A reusable cup program, which has cost $19,000, has aimed to help large events switch from disposable cups to reusable ones.
The program getting the most funds has been reusable bag giveaways — events hosted by the office where residents can swap plastic bags they’ve saved for a reusable bag created by Mile High Workshop from old, disposed marketing materials. The plastic bags are then turned into outdoor furniture by Trex. Since 2021, the city has spent over $413,000 on the program.
“It’s a perfect example of the circular community in Denver because it’s supporting community members, reusing local materials and providing something for the community,” Lana said.
As for the roughly $4.8 million sitting in the city’s fund? The city is asking Denver residents to fill out a survey to decide where that money should go. Options include funding water bottle refill stations in public places, funding community cleanup events and continuing the focus on providing reusable bags.
The survey needs between 500 and 1,000 respondents for the office to make a clear decision, said Chelsea Warren, a spokeswoman for the climate office.
Lana said so far, the survey shows that residents are aware of the disposable bag fee and choose to use reusable bags for environmental and sustainability reasons, not purely due to the fee.
“People are really supportive of providing funding for programs to mitigate the effects of single-use waste on the environment,” Lana said.
With the statewide ban on plastic bags and the decline in collections since 2021, the office might have to eventually look elsewhere to fund its programs. The city’s Climate Protection Fund does not include zero-waste efforts, said Warren, the bag fee program administrator.
“We always knew this would be temporary, and the goal was to encourage people to use reusable bags,” Warren said.
This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.
