The City of Richmond could start taxing plastic bags next year.
City Council is set to consider a proposal Tuesday to impose a 5-cent tax on most single-use plastic bags used at pharmacies, convenience and grocery stores and other businesses.
If passed, the surcharge would take effect in January 2026. Richmond would join 10 other Virginia localities that have adopted disposable plastic bag taxes after a 2020 state law gave them the authority to do so.
Based on a review of similar cities that have adopted the tax, Richmond estimates the tax would generate a little under $400,000 in the first year and around $100,000 to $150,000 in 2027. It would cost Richmonders about $2.12 each annually, based on the city’s analysis.
Reducing disposable plastic bags throughout Richmond would likely lead to less litter, lower litter collection costs and reduce the burden on solid waste disposal and recycling programs, according to a report on the proposal.
While the proposal from Mayor Danny Avula and 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell is expected to pass, some councilors expressed concerns in March over how businesses would have to self-report the revenue.
Laura Thomas, director of Richmond’s Office of Sustainability, shared details about the proposal last week before City Council’s Finance & Economic Development Standing Committee recommended it for approval.
Revenue from the 5-cent tax would be split, Thomas said, with 4 cents going to the city from the state and businesses retaining a penny for every bag through a tax deduction.
State law limits how Richmond can use revenue from a bag tax. Funding can go toward environmental cleanup efforts and educational programs, or toward providing reusable bags to recipients of government food assistance programs.
Richmond doesn’t have a specific program earmarked to receive the tax revenue yet, but plans to create a special fund if the proposal is approved. Thomas said the city plans to provide a “significant number” of reusable bags to residents.
If adopted, Thomas told the committee the city plans to meet with local businesses that will be most impacted by the tax — including convenience stores.
Thomas said large retailers, such as Target and Walmart, “do this in other jurisdictions already, so we’re really going to be focusing on those smaller mom and pop shops and reaching out to them.”
Some plastic bags would be exempt from the tax, including more durable and reusable bags as well as the ones at grocery stores used to wrap meat and select food products.
Business owners would include the plastic bag tax money in monthly reports they are already required to send to Virginia’s Department of Taxation. The state agency would administer the surcharge and reimburse Richmond and businesses each month.
In March, Sustainability Manager Tara Worden told a City Council committee the proposal would help reduce “landfill waste by 25% by 2030” and help Richmond reach its long-term waste reduction goals.
According to the city, 80% of the roughly 185,000 tons of waste that Richmond generates each year goes to landfills. The disposal of single-use plastic bags exacerbates these environmental concerns by creating litter, threatening local ecosystems and producing greenhouse gases.
“Single-use plastics that end up in landfills—which disproportionately are located near low-income communities— pollute groundwater and create airborne pollutants that can lead to higher risks of asthma and other illnesses,” a report on the proposal reads.
