JACKSON, Wyo. — The Town of Jackson’s plastic bag ordinance, which went into effect in April 2019, banned single-use plastic bags (defined as less than four millimeters in thickness) at the point of purchase for retailers. Along with the ban, retailers were then required to charge customers 20 cents for each paper or reusable plastic bag.
Half of the charge goes back to the retailer to help cover the cost of bags, and the remaining ten cents is remitted through the Town to Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling (ISWR).
Since 2019, ISWR has received a total of $761,472 from the fees through 2025, which averages to approximately $108,780 annually over seven years.
“Ideally, we would love for that number to be zero, meaning no one ever needed a disposable bag,” ISWR Waste Diversion Outreach Coordinator Cindy Harger told Buckrail, “but the fee helps discourage unnecessary use while keeping options available.”
ISWR operates like a not-for-profit business. Revenue from the fees goes to the organization’s “enterprise fund,” which is used for community programs, including: free Christmas tree composting, household hazardous waste initiatives, spring and fall cleanups, and other waste reduction initiatives.
Overall, the ordinance has reduced reliance on disposable bags and produced a “noticeable decline in local plastic bag litter.”
“One of my favorite anecdotes about the positive impacts in the valley of the plastic bag reduction ordinance came from a Town of Jackson Public Works manager, Sam Jewison,” Harger said. “He noted that, since the ordinance took effect, plastic bags are now largely absent from the dirt, gravel and debris screened from snow collected at the rodeo grounds each winter.”
