My friend, I think towns and cities shouldn't have personal motor vehicles at all.

Then you don't need the take out bag at all, you just eat it in the restaurant, or bring your own bag from home, or consignment like cans and bottles.

I'm more concerned about the implementation of the 15¢ paper bag charge. It feels like green washing to me, and i think the administration of the charge will likely net very little out of the fee to put towards other projects. But that's just a feeling, there's no data supporting it.

Do retailers pay the fee when they buy the bags in bulk? Do they reimburse the municipality for each bag sold? What about spillage/bad bags? Is this fee specifically being set close enough to plastic so people return to those?

Regardless, the problem isn't actually the bag (not even the plastic ones) the problem is that they are only used once. A nominal fee is unlikely to change that. A consignment fee is more likely to change it (worked pretty well for cans and bottles).