Prince George’s County targets abandoned shopping carts with new bill

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Discarded shopping carts abandoned at bus stops and tossed in ditches may soon be a thing of the past in Prince George’s County.

At least that’s the hope of county leaders aiming to hold retailers accountable for carts scattered around the county.

“The workers come and get them, but people just take them and leave them there,” said Prince George’s County Resident Bill McCoy.

7News found one shopping cart nearly a mile away from the Target store where it belongs.

Scenes like that are why Councilmember Wanika Fisher sponsored a bill to make sure stores that have more than 20 shopping carts are clearly labeling their carts and taking steps to make sure those carts are secured.

“The reality is everyone in our community is stepping up to clean up our community, whether it’s putting up a better fence or having a ring camera, and I just need retailers to meet the community halfway,” Fisher said.

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According to the bill that passed through committee this week once June 2025 rolls around, stores would be fined $2,000 if they’re not using various measures to secure their carts.

“You can do the cartwheel freezing on the property,” Fisher said. “There’s magnetic strips. If you go to certain stores, you can’t even push carts out of the stores because there’s a big magnet on the door. We have the option of a security guard, we have an option of a security deposit, which would be a quarter into the cart.”

The fine would apply every day and pile up until the business complies.

“A nuisance can become a really existential problem,” said Fisher. “It’s a small thing. There are bigger things that were doing at the council, but it’s a small thing that matters to people.”

Not everyone believes this is the way to fix the problem.

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A representative from the Maryland Retailers Alliance (MRA) told WTOP News that stores are not permitting their carts to be moved, they’re being stolen.

The MRA representative said the cost to retrofit and safeguard the carts could get expensive, and argued the $2,000 fine is too high.

“You have to incentivize retailers to actually do it,” said Fisher. “If it’s cheaper to pay the fine every day, why would I install the magnetic strips? Why would I install the quarter deposit? I think it’s pretty fair and retailers have over six months to get it together if this bill passes this month.”

The bill goes before the full council for a public hearing and vote on Tuesday, October 15th.