The State of Colorado passed House Bill 21-1162 in 2021 which institutes a minimum 10-cent bag fee on single use plastic and paper carryout bags in Colorado, beginning January 1, 2023. More details on the bag fee, including information on how to remit a portion of the fee to the City/County, and a retailer toolkit that provides required signage can be found on the City/County website at https://palisade.colorado.gov/
THE NEW STATE LAW – REQUIREMENTS OF RETAILERS FEE ON SINGLE USE CARRYOUT BAGS
Beginning January 1, 2023, any carryout bag provided by a business in [your municipality/county] will require a 10-cent fee to be charged to the customer taking the bag(s). The fee applies to both paper and plastic single-use carryout bags at all large grocery and retail stores (restaurants, and small Colorado-only stores with 3 or fewer locations in the state, are excluded). The fee does not apply to single use bags used inside the store to package bulk items; wrap frozen or fresh foods, flowers, or other items where dampness may be a problem; or contain unwrapped prepared foods and bakery goods. It also does not apply to bags used for prescription drugs.
Stores must begin charging the fee on January 1, 2023. The store is entitled to retain 4-cents for every bag, which may be used for employee training and administration of the bag fee program, purchase of reusable or paper bag or other measures. Stores are required to remit 6-cents of the 10-cent fee to the City/County for recycling, composting and other waste diversion programs, including outreach and education activities.
On a quarterly basis, starting April 1, 2024, stores and retail food establishments must remit the total amount of carryout bag fees collected in the previous quarter(s) to the City/County.
Businesses may choose to voluntarily pay the fees collected before April 1, 2024. This remittance report form will be available at the Town of Palisade’s website https://palisade.colorado.gov/
The State Law requires that businesses that provide carryout bags:
Educate customers on the fee via posted signage. Free signage can be downloaded at https://ecocycle.org/PPRA-businesses
- Include on receipts the type and number of bags taken and bag fee(s) paid by the customers
