Richmond shoppers will pay tax on disposable plastic bags starting in 2026

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Starting in 2026, there will be a tax on disposable plastic bags within the city of Richmond.

During a city council meeting on Monday, June 2, the Richmond City Council approved an ordinance creating a five-cent disposable plastic bag tax. The ordinance's primary goal is to reduce litter throughout the city, according to officials.

This tax will be levied on each disposable plastic bag given out to shoppers by grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores in Richmond.

There are multiple exceptions to the tax, including:

• All reusable plastic bags
• Disposable plastic bags that are “solely used to wrap, contain or package” items for the purpose of avoiding contamination, such as ice cream, meat, fish and other similar food items
• Disposable plastic bags that are used to carry dry cleaning
• Disposable plastic bags that are used to carry prescription medications
• Pre-packaged disposable plastic bags used as garbage, pet waste or leaf-removal bags

Retailers will be asked to collect said tax from their shoppers and will get to keep one cent from each taxed bag -- meaning the remaining four cents is to be given to the city. The city will collect this tax whether the stores charge consumers or not.

Additionally, retailers who charge this tax may be eligible for deductions on their tax returns if they retain a discount under this new policy.

Revenue generated by this tax is meant to go towards citywide initiatives such as addressing pollution and litter, environmental cleanup efforts and related educational programs. These dollars will also fund reusable bags to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program recipients in the city.

While discussing the ordinance on Monday, some councilmembers said they supported the ordinance due to how heavily Richmond is impacted by litter.

Councilmembers who were against the measure suggested making businesses foot the bill rather than consumers. Another suggestion was to not levy a tax at all -- instead, they recommended the city just invest in providing reusable plastic bags to citizens.

Others expressed concerns about the tax increasing costs for vulnerable Richmond residents -- particularly older residents.

Notably, the disposable plastic bag tax revenue can be used to purchase reusable bags only for SNAP and WIC recipients, as the ordinance states.

A city official told councilmembers that the city is "committed" to funding additional reusable bags for groups like the city's older population through other means.

Now that the ordinance has been passed, Richmond shoppers will be charged this tax starting on Jan. 1, 2026. The city will become the 11th Virginia locality to adopt such a tax.