Spokane, WA. – Washington state shoppers will have to shell out more money for plastic bags bought at store check-outs in 2026. Starting January 1, the price for a single plastic bag will jump from 8 cents to 12 cents.
“Twelve cents a bag?” Spokane shopper Lori Dinger doesn’t want to pay a single cent for a plastic bag, so she makes sure to bring her own reusable bags on shopping trips.
“I feel strongly about it,” Dinger said. “I think if you’re not going to worry about cans and bottles, why are you worried about plastic bags? Why charge people for them?”
The increase from 8 to 12 cents per plastic bag is to encourage a cutdown on plastic waste.
The Washington Department of Ecology’s 2022 litter study found that 18.7 million plastic bags end up as litter every year.
Hether Trim, Zero Waste Washington’s Executive Director, said at a public discussion about the plastic bag changes that these bags are especially dangerous when they make their way into Washington waters.
“In the aquatic environment, plastic bags are very floaty and buoyant,” Trim said. “They look like jelly fish… a favorite food of quite a few aquatic species.”
The easiest way to avoid the additional cost that comes with buying plastic bags is to store reusable bags in your car or wherever you can easily remember to grab them. As another shopper, Jo Hall, knows all-too-well, reusable bags may be back-of-mind when you head into the store.
“About half the time I do forget them,” Hall said. “Sometimes I just carry my stuff out to the car.”
Dinger is willing to put in that extra effort before buying a plastic bag, too.
“If I forget my bag, I do not get one,” Dinger said. “I just get to my car and put my groceries in my car. I refuse to buy a bag,” Dinger said.
The jump to 12 cents per plastic bag is also to support the stores buying bags themselves.
Kirk Esmond with the Washington State Department of Commerce says the change will impact approximately 80,000 businesses across the state.
“Essentially, right now retailers are spending more to acquire bags from distributors than they are actually able to make back,” Esmond said at this fall’s public discussion about plastic bag changes.
Customers can expect to pay 12 cents per plastic bags purchased from a grocery store, retailer, or restaurant beginning next Thursday with the new year.
Paper bags will remain 8 cents and businesses are allowed to charge more than the minimum fees to account for higher costs of compliant paper and plastic bags.
To learn more, visit the Washington State Department of Ecology website, where the law’s requirements and answers to frequently asked questions are posted, along with recent studies.
