MANKATO — City leaders will hear a pitch Monday from local environmentalists who want Mankato to add a surcharge to plastic bags used at supermarkets and other retail stores.
The presentation scheduled for a City Council work session will suggest as much as 10 cents be charged for each plastic check-out bag at retail outlets.
Jane Dow, speaking on behalf of Mankato Zero Waste and Beyond Plastics Greater Mankato Area, is expected to lay out the rationale for and the broader components of a plastic bag ordinance.
Ordinances put in place in Edina and Duluth are possible models for Mankato, although the local environmentalists are suggesting a per-bag fee that’s double the 5 cents charged in those cities and in Minneapolis.
Stores in Edina have collected more than $124,000 in bag fees since the surcharge was adopted in 2025, and the businesses are allowed to retain the revenue. The Mankato proposal suggests splitting the 10-cent fee — with 4 cents retained by the stores to cover implementation and administrative costs and 6 cents transferred to the city.
The municipal revenue could then be used for a variety of purposes such as financing reusable bags for consumers, public education campaigns about the value of reducing plastic consumption, enforcement of the ordinance, community cleanup events and other environmental protection efforts.
Mankato would be far from a trendsetter if it adopts bag fees, according to Mankato Zero Waste. More than 200 cities and counties and 12 states have fees, ranging from a nickel to a quarter, or ban disposable plastic bags outright.
Monday’s presentation, to be held after the conclusion of the 6 p.m. regular council meeting, is expected to focus extensively on the widespread negative impact of plastic in the environment, including to human health, to water quality, to birds and animals and to scenery due to plastic litter.
The proposed ordinance would be targeted at the carry-out plastic bags at checkout lines and would include numerous exceptions to the per-bag surcharge. Some of those exceptions would likely include the handle-free bags available in fruit, vegetable, bakery and meat departments, pharmacy bags and dry-cleaning bags.
Because the discussion is occurring at a council work session rather than a regular meeting, elected officials will not be able to take formal action on the proposal. But city staff will be looking to see if a majority of elected officials are interested in exploring the idea further.