New York’s plastic bag ban is now back after a lawsuit — and the coronavirus pandemic — temporarily delayed enforcement.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced last month that it planned to begin enforcement of the ban on Oct. 19. The department’s 30-day notice that enforcement would begin was required by an order from the state Supreme Court. The ban originally went into effect March 1.

New Yorkers use about 23 billion plastic bags every year, and roughly 85% of those end up in landfills, recycling machines, waterbodies and on roads, according to the DEC. New York’s bag ban imposed new restrictions requiring businesses that collect sales tax, including grocery stores, to stop using thin plastic bags.

Cities and counties are allowed to adopt regulations authorizing retailers to charge customers 5 cents for a paper bag, according to the DEC. In the North Country, some businesses — such as the Aldi­ grocery store chain — have been charging for paper bags for years.

Enforcement of the ban was put on hold as the state fought a lawsuit from Poly-Pak Industries, a plastic bag manufacturer, that sought to eliminate the ban; it was also put on hold as some retailers asked customers not to use reusable bags to curb the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

State Supreme Court Justice Gerald Connolly, in his decision on the lawsuit brought by store owners and plastic bag manufacturers in August, ultimately sided with the state and upheld the ban. Connolly also ordered the state to eliminate a provision in the bag ban law that environmental groups said could allow store owners to still use thicker plastic bags.

“The Court’s decision is a victory and a vindication of New York State’s efforts to end the scourge of single-use plastic bags and a direct rebuke to the plastic bag manufacturers who tried to stop the law and DEC’s regulations to implement it,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a statement last month. “As we have for many months, DEC is encouraging New Yorkers to make the switch to reusable bags whenever and wherever they shop and to use common-sense precautions to keep reusable bags clean.”

Another lawsuit from Poly-Pak Industries and the Bodega and Small Business Association, this one arguing that the department has allegedly violated the August order from the state Supreme Court, was filed earlier this month.

Though the ban hasn’t been enforced until now, many North Country stores have either not offered plastic bags for some time, or — in the case of chain grocery stores such as Price Chopper in Lake Placid and Tops in Saranac Lake — continued to offer paper bags instead for most of this year. The DEC launched a campaign earlier this year, #BYOBagNY, in an effort to encourage residents to make the switch to reusable bags.

Residents who want to file a complaint about a business in noncompliance can fill out and submit a complaint form to plasticbags@dec.ny.gov or call 518-402-8706.