Single-Use Plastics Ban on Bozeman Ballot

After the city of Bozeman initially rejected a citizen-led initiative to ban single-use plastics, the ordinance will now appear on Bozeman's ballot this November. The announcement follows months of efforts by volunteers and paid workers to collect signatures and petition voters.

The citizen initiative came into focus after Cottonwood Environmental Law Center won a lawsuit against the state of Montana challenging House Bill 407, which passed in 2021. The bill specifically banned cities and towns from passing ordinances and banned citizens from passing initiatives regulating plastics. 

Organizers with Bozeman-based Montana Plastic Free and Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics collected 6,739 verified signatures for the initiative, which the city initially rejected for narrowly missing the 25 percent threshold of registered voters needed during a special election year. Cottonwood once again stepped in, arguing this is not a special election and that the requirement is 15 percent during a general election year, per Montana law. Cottonwood and the city settled the lawsuit in August, and the initiative will now appear on November’s ballot.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores within city limits, from distributing single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam takeout containers. If passed, the ban would take effect on May 1, 2025. Businesses found in violation would first receive a warning, followed by a $1,000 fine for the first offense and a $2,000 fine for subsequent violations. The city of Bozeman would be responsible for creating educational materials that retailers could use to inform customers about the ban and encourage the use of reusable bags.

A number of plastic items would remain permitted, such as non-handled plastic bags for loose items, bags for wrapping fish or meat, as well as bags for chemicals, garbage and plastic water bottles.

Among a number of links on its website, Montana Plastic Free states that microplastics are widespread in the region's rivers and streams and are negatively impacting wildlife. "Researchers in 2019 found plastic in more than half of Montana's streams, including 35 fishing sites," the website says.

Terry Quatraro, a spokesperson for the initiative with Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics, told Mountain Journal that 25 percent of the waste at Logan Landfill in Manhattan, Montana west of Bozeman is plastic and that the number of single-use plastic bags far exceeds all other plastic waste.

“It has been an exciting process, and I try not to think about whether it will pass,” Quatraro said. “There’s elation and reason to celebrate that we’re on the ballot, but we’re not in the end game yet; we're still in unknown territory and exploring avenues to educate the public about the initiative, make sure we’re doing this right, and making sure we are taking advantage of resources available to us.”

Quatraro heard from a distributor at one grocery store in Bozeman that it distributes between 1.2 million and 1.5 million plastic bags annually. She said a ban on plastic bags would have a positive impact on the health of our environment and the public. 

“I’m so appreciative that many of the grocery stores in Bozeman allowed us to collect signatures in front of their doors or close by, and for their cooperation,” Quatraro said. 

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