North Myrtle Beach Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban

As efforts are sweeping across the country to stem the swelling tide of ocean and beach pollution, North Myrtle Beach soon will become the 15^th community in South Carolina to institute a plastic bag ban.

On July 1, 2022, the ban on “single-use” plastic bags will take effect within the city limits. A single-use carryout plastic bag is defined in the city’s Code of Ordinances Section 12-111 as “a bag provided by a company or individual to a customer, typically at the point of sale, for the purpose of transporting purchases, which is made predominantly of plastic derived from petroleum or a biologically based source. This definition includes bags provided to a customer to transport items provided free of charge, including but not limited to, samples and informational materials.”

Several businesses in North Myrtle Beach already have changed to paper bags or offer reusable bags for customer purchase. A few offer no bags, and some are beginning to add a fee for bags or carryout.

Now is the time to begin preparing for this July 1^st change. Employee training about reusables will help ease the transition for consumers.

Over the next couples of months public service and paid advertising announcements will be released during local news programs to alert residents and businesses about the ordinance and provide information before the July 1 effective date. Also, representatives from Destination North Myrtle Beach will be visiting each business within the city limits to provide more information. Websites will provide information to businesses and residents.

Thank you for your attention to this new law. It’s a change in how you may do business. The real change, however, will happen in the results of eliminating plastics on our beaches and in the ocean and waterways.