The state’s House of Representatives has passed a bill that would restrict the use of plastic and paper bags at retail stores, restaurants and grocery stores.

The bill, HB 560, passed along partisan lines, 201-145, with only one Republican vote in favor.

The bill would forbid food service businesses and retail stores with more than 1,000 square feet from using single-use plastic carryout bags. Customers could purchase reusable plastic or recycled paper bags for 10 cents each.

“Plastic bags are polluting our world, gumming up the landscape and using up precious resources,” Democrat State Rep. Dick Ames of Jaffrey said Friday.

Ames said the charge for individual bags is a “prompt” for people to think about their plastic usage.

“If people think about it, there are people who will opt into a pattern of behavior that lessons the use of plastic bags,” Ames said.

The proposed law resembles a law which has been in place in California since 2015, which prohibits large stores from providing single-use plastic bags unless the customer purchases it for 10 cents.

California also requires businesses to have an at-store recycling program, where plastic bags can be returned to the store to be recycled.

In Hawaii, the three most populous counties in the state prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags, as well as paper bags with less than 40 percent of recycled material.

Washington D.C. has a five-cent charge for plastic or paper carryout bags for all businesses selling food or alcohol.

Several individual cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle have adopted plastic bag bans.

Republican State Rep. John Hunt of Rindge said he spoke on the floor against the bill, in part, he said, because it was more restrictive than other plastic bag bans adopted elsewhere in the country.

“My obvious issue with the bill was it was far-reaching,” Hunt said Friday. “This goes beyond grocery stores to almost every merchant in the state.”

Hunt said reusable plastic bags use more plastic than single-use plastic bags, and that the law will discourage shopping tourists, who aren’t likely to bring their reusable shopping bags on vacation.

Peter Robinson, the owner of Roy’s Market in Peterborough, said there are people who don’t like that the grocery offers a plastic bag option, and he tries to be sensitive to that. Robinson said his store has tried to encourage the use of paper bags by purchasing ones with handles but said some customers, particularly elderly customers, prefer plastic bags because they can carry them more easily.

He also said the law may be a case of tackling the issue from the wrong angle.

“If you walk through the store, and look at the amount of packaging involved with these products, the plastic bags are only a small, small portion of the problem,” Robinson said. “Though, I know you have to start somewhere.”

Robinson said he’s also concerned using larger reusable bags could result in cross-contamination of products.

The law would allow plastic packaging for fish and meat.

The law will be advanced to the state Senate for deliberation.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.