Maine State and Municipal Plastics Ordinances
Last updated: 28 May 2021
back to MDI Plastics

Table Organization
  • main links are to local downloaded PDFs, either the original or
    • "$" indicates that the original was graphical, so in order to provide searchable text, it has been OCR'd and formatted to approximate the original
    • "*" indicates that the original was either an interactive document or a much larger comprehensive ordinance, necessitating copy/pasting the text to produce a local document with searchable text
  • "original" refers to the original graphical PDF in the "$" case (above)
  • "source" provides a link to the original municipal source, in cases where it was locatable
    • "BagLaws" is a compendium of ordinances; items referenced here were originally used where municipal sources were unavailable (now remedied), or where its version differed from the municipal source.
  • "article" or "town/city info" is a link to a news article or the town statement about the passage of the ordinance

Comparisons of Maine Plastics Ordinances
  1. Bags and Polystyrene   (Dick Atlee, XLS, 22 May 2019)
    High-resolution detail about all Maine ordinances, passed or proposed
    1. Bag ordinance spreadsheet, sample of first few columns -- PDF, PNG
    2. Polystyrene ordinance spreadsheet, sample of first few columns -- PDF, PNG
  2. Comparison of statewide bills/laws with MDI town ordinances
    1. Bags
    2. Polystyrene
  3. Ellsworth's table   (Asst. City Planner Steve Fuller, PDF, 31 Dec 2018)

Plastic Bags

Type Municipality: local copy Source About Baglaws
listing
* Bar Harbor source article
* Bath
  "Bath Bags" -- Bath's program of providing reusable bags
source article
article
Belfast source article
Biddeford source article
Blue Hill source article
Brunswick   (see note) source article
baglaws
$ Camden   (original) source article
* Cape Elizabeth   (see note) source article
$ Damariscotta   (original)   (see note) source article
Ellsworth -- Sep 19 draft (email) article
Falmouth source town
info
baglaws
Freeport source
(doc)
article baglaws
Kennebunk   (see note) source article
baglaws
Maine State LD1532   (original) source article
Maine law
    postponement to 1/15/21
    postponement to 7/1/21
source article
    article
    article
Manchester source article
Mount Desert (proposed draft, Jan 2019, passed, ordinance N/A) (email) article
Newcastle (combined bags/styrofoam) source article
Portland
  city info: FAQ (local, source) and Sign (local, source)
source article baglaws
$ Rockland source article
* Saco source article baglaws
South Portland source city
info
baglaws
Southwest Harbor source article
* Topsham source
(docx)
town
info,
article
baglaws
Tremont town article  
Waterville   (see note) source article
$ York (original, history) source article

Plastic Bag Notes

Brunswick:   The fee-schedule is in a separate document; the baglaws version has the preamble shown in the source.)

Cape Elizabeth:   Note: The printed documents inadvertently don't reflect a council amendment suggested by the town attorney which exempted non-food stores.

Damariscotta   Note: Damariscotta removed styrofoam from an ordinance originally designed to handle both bags and styrofoam.

Kennebunk:   Note: The town's fee schedule is in a separate document, where it can be changed without having to amend individual ordinances. Here is the page containing the bag ordinance (#4-9) violation fines.

Waterville   Note: Waterville is interesting in that the mayor has opposed the ordinance, vetoing the City Council's decision to put it on the ballot, and then, after it passed, spearheading (and using his own money for) a petition drive to obtain a recount, which reversed the vote, based on a controversy over the role of Colby College students. The city registrar invited all 164 challenged individuals to individual hearings, 77 of whom came and were certified, restoring the election decision. An appeal to the state Supreme Court was ultimately dismissed and sent back to the city's Voter Registration Appeals Board, due to failure to file a complaint and withdrawal of two challengers. But the drama continued, with the remaining challenger pursuing the appeal despite having been ruled to not have standing, as a non-resident of Waterville. Ultimately, on March 11 the Court dismissed the case because the main plaintiffs withdrew. On March 19, despite continuing opposition, the City Council certified the ordinance.

Polystyrene Foam Food Containers

    Type Municipality: Local copy Source About
    * Bar Harbor source article
    * Bath source article
    Belfast source article
    Blue Hill source article
    Brunswick source article
    $ Camden   (original) source article
    * Cape Elizabeth source article
    Freeport source
    (doc)
    article
    Maine State LD289
      original
    source article
    Maine law (postponed to 1/15/21, 7/1/21) source
    Mount Desert   (Jan 2019 draft, passed, ordinance N/A) (email) article
    Newcastle   (combined bags/styrofoam) source article
    Portland
      city info: FAQ (local, source)
    source article,
    city
    info
    $ Rockland source article
    Rockport (email) article
    * Saco source article
    South Portland source city)
    Southwest Harbor source article
    * Topsham source
    (docx)
    article
    town
    notice
    Tremont town article
    $ York   (original) source article