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Beaufort County Plastic Bag Ban

Oct 12, 2018

Beaufort County’s ordinance banning a business from providing single-use plastic bags at the checkout will be taking effect beginning November 1st, 2018.

Here at Hilton Head Island Real Estate Brokers, during our daily walks on the beach, we pick up so much litter (including plastic bags), discarded by careless people. We’d like to make sure everyone has access to a reusable/recyclable bag so please stop by our office at 70 Arrow Road, Suite 3, Hilton Head Island, Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00 pm and pick up one or more of our FREE Totes or complete the following link to reserve your bags today:  Reservation Form

The Town of Hilton Head, Bluffton, the City of Beaufort, Unincorporated Beaufort County, and Port Royal have all adopted and passed ordinances that are aimed at improving the local environment by encouraging the use of reusable checkout bags and recyclable paper carryout bags. Plastic bags can ‘escape’ into our waterways and ocean, causing harm to animal life. Additionally, they break down into smaller pieces of plastic that can enter the food chain of animals and eventually humans.

What businesses are affected? Any commercial enterprise that provides carryout out bags to its customers. This will include grocery stores, department stores, and restaurants – in fact, nearly all businesses you probably use today will not be able to provide a single-use plastic bag for you to carry your goods home.

Are there any exemptions?
1. Laundry dry cleaning bags, door hanger bags, newspaper bags, or packages of multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste or yard waste.
2. Plastic bags, as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), provided by Pharmacists and Vetinararians to contain prescription drugs and other medical devices.
3. Bags used by a customer inside a business establishment to:

• • • Contain bulk items, such as produce, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items;
  • • Contain or wrap frozen foods, meat, or fish, whether or not prepackaged;
  • • Contain or wrap flowers, potted plants or other items to prevent moisture damage to other
    purchases; or
  • • Contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods; and
  • 4. Bags of any type that the customer brings to the store for their own use for carrying away from the store goods
    that are not placed in a bag provided by the store.
  • Reusable Carryout Bag. A carryout bag that is specifically designed and manufactured for multiple
    reuse, and meets the following criteria:
  • Displays in a highly visible manner on the bag exterior, language describing the bag’s ability to
    be reused and recycled;
  • Has a handle; except that handles are not required for carryout bags constructed out of
    recyclable paper with a height of less than 14 inches and width of less than eight inches; and
  • Is constructed out of any of the following materials:
  • Cloth, other washable fabric, or other durable materials, whether woven or non-woven; or
  • Recyclable plastic, with a minimum thickness of 2.25 mils

What penalties will business incur for non-compliance?:

Any business violating the ordinance will be subject to an initial written warning with penalties levied for continued offenses starting at $100 escalating to $500 for repeated violations. Each day that a violation continues constitutes a separate offense. Additionally, repeated violations could result in the suspension or revocation of the business license.

Links to Full Ordinances:
Beaufort County: http://www.bcgov.net/departments/Finance/business-license/documents/Plastic%20Bag%20Ban%20-%20Ordinance%20Information.pdf
Hilton Head: https://www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov/departments/legal/PlasticBagOrdinance.pdf