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A judge rules Athens’ single-use plastic bag ban violates state law
By: Jack Greene
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – An Athens County judge ruled a ban on single-use plastic bags in the city of Athens is unconstitutional.
The judge said in his decision Wednesday the city had no authority to pass the ban because it directly conflicts with a state law that allows retailers to use plastic bags.
The ban, which took effect at the start of this year, was passed by the Athens City Council in May 2023. The state attorney general filed a lawsuit in December seeking to overturn the ban.
The city also argued it has authority under state law “to enact laws and policies regarding environmentally friendly business practices.”
In 2021, the state Legislature passed a law allowing businesses to choose which kinds of bags they wanted to use, specifically including plastic bags.
Judge George McCarthy wrote in his decision that the state has the right to regulate solid waste management.
“Because single-use plastic bags are a solid waste and subject to disposal and recycling, it is clear that the state legislature can regulate its use,” McCarthy wrote.
The judge acknowledged the city’s environmental goals but said there are ways to keep plastic bags out of the waste stream.
The bags, he wrote, “can be reused by consumers or returned to several stores that accept such bags. And those bags can go on to be recycled.”
The judge said the city’s ban had to be overturned to “avoid conflict and confusion between the local ordinance and state law” and protect “Ohioans choice to use single-use plastic bags.”
Athens Law Director Lisa Eliason said the city is disappointed with the ruling.
There is no word yet if the city plans to appeal.
“We plan to discuss this result with City Council to determine our next steps in protecting Athens’ Home Rule authority,” she wrote in an email.
With the ban now on permanent hold, some businesses in Athens said they are considering whether to bring plastic bags back to their stores.
Seaman’s grocery store owner J. Seaman said any return to plastic at his store would be based on customer demand.
“If some of our customers really want it we’ll bring it back, but if they don’t we probably won’t,” he said.
A spokesperson for Walmart, one of the bigger retailers in the city, said the company is aware of the judge’s decision and will be meeting in the next day or so to determine its next steps.
College Bookstore General Manager Gene Armes said he is not planning on making any changes at his store right away.
Armes said he doesn’t want to change back to plastic bags only to have to go back to paper if the city were to win an appeal of the court’s decision.
But even if the city were to appeal and lose, that doesn’t mean his store would then return to plastic bags.
“It cost us a lot of money to do this,” he said of the switch to paper bags, “but we decided it’s the best thing to do.”