Starting Oct. 19, New York’s plastic bag ban will finally be enforced.

That could be a boon to promotional products distributors struggling during the pandemic, as the prohibition could be an opportunity to sell more branded reusable alternatives, such as totes.

The ban on single-use plastic carryout bags went into effect Mar. 1, RiverheadLOCAL reported, but the state delayed enforcement under an agreement with parties in a lawsuit challenging the ban in State Supreme Court. In August, the court dismissed the lawsuit, which was brought by Melville, NY-based Poly-Pak Industries, Inc. (asi/81350) and New York retailers that distribute those bags. In a podcast with ASI earlier this year, Ken Trottere, vice president of Poly-Pak, discussed the impact that plastic bag bans have had on business.

The new state law, passed last year to help reduce plastic waste, prohibits the distribution of plastic carryout bags by any vendor required to collect New York State sales tax. The law allows distribution of paper bags upon payment of a 5-cent fee.

There are limited exemptions to the ban, such as plastic bags used solely to contain uncooked meat, fish, seafood and poultry, as well as food that is sliced or prepared to order. Also exempt are plastic bags used for newspaper deliveries or sold as trash bags, food storage bags, garment bags, bags provided by a restaurant and bags provided by pharmacies to carry prescription drugs.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched the eco-friendly crusade in 2017 with the creation of the New York State Plastic Bag Task Force, which aims to reduce the amount of plastic bag waste generated in New York. According to the task force, an estimated 23 billion plastic bags are used annually and approximately 85% of it ends up in landfills, recycling machines, waterways and streets.

A growing number of cities, municipalities, states and even countries are enacting prohibitions on single-use plastic bags. Ban proponents say the pollution spoils natural habitat and poses a danger to wildlife, which can choke on or become caught in the disposables. States like California, Maine and Vermont have voted statewide prohibitions on plastic bags into place.

In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tons of plastic, according to Surfers Against Sewage, a marine conservation charity based in the United Kingdom. In 2016, a global population of more than 7 billion people produced more than 320 million tons of plastic. The 2016 tally is set to double by 2034. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into oceans, according to Surfers Against Sewage.

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