Start saving your nickels.

Shoppers switching to paper bags after a statewide plastic bag ban takes effect next year will have to shell out 5 cents for each one under legislation approved by the City Council on Thursday.

“We can’t just have people switch from plastic [to paper bags], which is what will happen if there’s no fee,” said Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), who co-sponsored the legislation with Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan).

The lawmakers, who also led the fight to ban plastic bags statewide, said manufacturing and transportation of paper bags produce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems.

The bill passed 38-9.

Under a new state law taking effect on March 1, 2020, 3 cents of the fee would go to the state Environmental Protection Fund. Lander and Chin’s bill sets aside the city’s 2-cent share toward free reusable bags, with low-income residents getting first crack.

The Council also approved a series of other bills to help contain climate change, including one that will force large- and medium-sized buildings to reduce emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.