Denver shoppers will have to bring their own bags or face a fee beginning Thursday as the city’s “Bring your own Bag” ordinance goes into effect.

The ordinance requires stores in Denver to charge customers 10 cents for each single-use plastic or paper bag they use to carry their purchases.

The ordinance, passed by the City Council in December 2019, was meant to go into effect in July 2020. But because of government backlog during the COVID-19 pandemic, the start date was pushed to July 1 of this year.

“The intent of it was to reduce the number of single-use bags used,” Councilwoman Kendra Black said. “This kind of program has been used successfully around the world and does successfully reduce single-use bags.”

The fee does not apply to restaurants, customers using food assistance programs, bags that customers bring from home (even if the bags are single-use plastic or paper) and bags used within stores for produce, baked goods or pharmaceuticals.

Of the 10-cent fee per bag, 4 cents goes to the retailers and 6 cents goes to the city.

“Using a conservative estimate of a 50% reduction of bags, in a full year, the fee would generate around $2.5 million for retailers and close to $4 million for the city,” said Grace Rink, executive director of the Denver Office of Climate Action.

Retailers can use the income generated by the fees to pay for customer education, signage, staff training, administrative infrastructure, provide free reusable bags to customers or infrastructure for recycling plastic bags, Rink said.

The city can use the fees to pay for the program’s administration, community education and outreach, provide free reusable bags to residents, infrastructure and events to reduce litter, efforts to reduce single-use product waste or to measure the impact of the program, she said.

The implementation of Denver’s bag fee ordinance comes as the state legislature passed House Bill 1162 earlier this month – a measure that will establish at least a 10-cent fee for single-use plastic and paper bags in Colorado.

The state policy will not go into effect until 18 months after Denver’s bag fee begins, on Jan. 1, 2023.

During this 18-month gap, Denver’s bag fee ordinance will take precedence, Rink said. Once the state’s policy goes into effect, Denver will adjust its program accordingly to align with any state requirements.