In various cities and states, plastic bag bans have taken hold as a way to reduce pollution and prevent excess waste from harming the environment. But what differences have the laws made in helping curb pollution?
Eight states have banned single-use plastic bags from stores, and the results of the bans have been a mixed bag, with some improvement in plastic waste but some lingering problems.
In California, a 2016 ballot measure enacted a ban on single-use plastic bags, while offering thicker plastic bags for a fee at grocery store checkouts with the intention of customers reusing and recycling the thicker bags. Eight years later, the state has updated the law to ban all plastic bags from checkouts.
The 2016 ban quickly reduced the number of plastic bags sold to customers, as single-use bags were banned and 10-cent-thicker plastic bags replaced them. A 2019 report from the state’s recycling program, CalRecycle, found that in the initial six-month period after the law went into effect, the number of plastic bags given out at stores went down by 85%, and the number of paper bags given out by 61%.
While the issuance of single-use plastic bags went down, the total weight of plastic waste collected in the state increased significantly from before the 2016 law was enacted to when it went into effect.
CalRecycle found that 157,395 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags were disposed of in the state in 2014, but by 2021, the weight of plastic grocery and merchandise bags increased to roughly
231,072. During that span, California‘s population only increased by roughly 1.4%, and the weight of waste from paper bags decreased from roughly 70,627 tons in 2014 to 35,207 tons in 2021.
The 10-cent tax on single-use plastic bags enacted with the 2016 law also applied to paper bags, but only the weight of plastic bag waste increased.
Despite the weight of plastic waste from single-use bags increasing, a study from Environment America found that the number of single-use plastic bags has gone down in areas where bans are implemented, including California.
The January 2024 study found that plastic bag bans can reduce the number of single-use bags by 296 bags per person per year, by looking at bans in two states and three cities with bans in place. The study also found California’s 2016 ban to be a failure because it only reduced the number of bags rather than the amount of waste.
“A plastic bag ban that allows the weight of plastic bags discarded to increase, let alone establish a new peak level of plastic bag waste, cannot be considered a complete success,” the study said.
The stricter plastic bag ban implemented by the Golden State will require stores to still offer paper bags for a 10-cent fee, but they will be prohibited from selling plastic bags.
“Instead of being asked do you want paper or plastic at checkout, consumers will simply be asked if they want a paper bag, if they haven’t brought a reusable bag. This straightforward approach is easy to follow and will help dramatically reduce plastic bag pollution,” Democratic state Sen. Catherine Blakespear said in a statement celebrating the revised bill being signed into law.
Activists also celebrated the legislation as a victory for efforts to reduce pollution, specifically with its potential effects on wildlife.
“Finally, with this necessary update to the bag ban, plastic grocery bags will no longer be a threat to sea turtles, birds, and other wildlife in California,” Laura Deehan, state director of the group Environment California, said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The vast majority of states still permit single-use plastic bags at grocery stores with no additional tax attached, and the U.S. accounts for just a fraction of global plastic waste, as critics of the plastic bag bans have pointed out.
California’s revised plastic bag ban will be effective Jan. 1, 2026, after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) approved the law last month.