Colorado’s 10-cent grocery bag surcharge doesn’t save you much money – and that’s a good thing!

Maybe you’ve been there before: you’re standing at the checkout at the supermarket and you get the question. It used to be: “Paper or plastic?” but now in Colorado it’s, “How many bags do you want to buy?”

Coloradans have been facing this question for almost a year since the state banned single-use plastic bags. And if you bought too much for the reusable bags you brought, or forgot them in the car, you’ll have to pay for the bags. Ten cents a pop.

That reimbursement started in January — and a CPR listener asked Colorado Wonders about it. Does the baggage allowance make money? And where is it going?

Local and national ban

The nationwide ban on single-use plastic bags came into effect in 2024 as part of the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. The law was passed in 2021. Large companies had to stop offering single-use plastic carrier bags as of January 1.

It is not the Colorado Department of Revenue that collects or enforces the fee. This responsibility lies with the municipalities and the provincial government.

“We take a reactive approach. So we rely on retailers to collect these fees from their customers, and that does not mean it is within the city’s authority to control the collection of bag fees,” said Danny Nunn, interim chief financial officer for the City of Pueblo . “But right now it’s kind of on the retailer’s honor system….”

Sixty percent of the fee income goes to the municipalities and provinces where the stores are located. The companies can keep the remaining 40 percent.

Denver had a fairly smooth transition when the statewide ban went into effect: the city had a head start. The Denver City Council passed the bill to implement the law 10 cent fee for single use plastic bags end of 2019. It came into effect on July 1, 2021.

State bag fee rules exempt small businesses with three stores or fewer from charging the fee. But Denver had already gone one step further.

“Denver’s ordinance always included small stores. And because state law requires municipalities to implement the policy in a manner that is as strict or more strict than state law, we can apply the plastic bag ban to all Denver stores, regardless of size or number of locations,” the statement said. spokesman. Natalie Lana, administrator of the Denver Disposable Spending Money Program Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience.

How much do local governments collect? How do they use it?

Of its share of the bag fee, Denver has earned $697,669 in 2024 and $6.2 million in revenue since the fees were introduced. Aurora collected $1,661,000 in fees.

Other places like Pueblo aren’t seeing millions of dollars. They only made $300,000 in fees. Local governments generally recycle their cuts into the bag fee program.

“Proceeds from single-use bags have been used to fund truly (Denver’s) innovative programs to reduce waste, such as helping restaurants transition to reusable foodwear for dining services and supporting events to reduce waste through reusable and returnable containers ,” said Lana. .

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

This includes the Reuse Denver program that allows small restaurants to save money by replacing disposable tableware with reusable foodware such as plates, bowls, cups or cutlery.

Aurora will use the funds for its shopping cart cleanup initiative and future initiatives such as city beautification efforts.

How do companies use the money?

Companies also use their fee reduction to promote the program through education and signage.

Chris Howes is the chairman of the Colorado Retail Council. Since 1998, he has lobbied for the Retail Council, which represents Colorado’s largest supermarkets and stores and sponsors bills for the fee. Howse said the transition was relatively easy.

“We did our very best to put up signs and prepare customers before the law was implemented, but here we are as one of those states banning single-use plastic bags at checkout across the state,” said Howes. “We prepared the customers a bit through signage at the point of sale, and of course we were allowed to go through the existing stock of plastic bags in the stores. Of course not just thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of reusable plastic bags. So that time is over, the transition time is over, and this is now the law.”

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Even Enforcement is not specifically laid down in the billHowse said all members of the Retail Council are adhering to this.

“I think it’s generally followed. I have never heard of people saying there is rampant abuse or that they are not following state law. So I haven’t heard any feedback from customers or members saying this hasn’t gone as smoothly,” Howes said. “Certainly there are customers who disagree, but that has nothing to do with the retailers adhering to the law that has been introduced.”

Some might see paying a 10-cent allowance for something as small as a paper bag as another way for the government to make some money. This does not apply to this specific compensation.

In fact, it does the opposite. Lana said the goal is not to generate more revenue, but to reduce the use of single-use bags. She said sales are down because more people are using fewer single-use bags.

“That’s really a great thing and an indicator of success for us. I think because of this program we have an average of 5 million fewer single-use bags in Denver each year,” says Lana.

It’s safe to say it’s a fee that cities are happy to lose money on, as long as it helps the environment.