Portland, Oregon, to expand its plastic bag ban

The Portland City Council has voted to expand the city's plastic bag ban to include all 5,000 restaurants and retailers.

The expansion of the existing ban on single-use plastic checkout bags will happen in two phases. The first phase goes into effect on March 1, 2013 and will cover retail stores and food providers over 10,000 square feet in size. Phase two will expand the ban to an estimated 5,000 restaurants and retailers, including farmers markets and corner stores, and even Portland’s hundreds of food carts.