"Plastic bag bans" — a somewhat misleading term referring to an array of policies aimed at reducing single-use plastic like shopping bags — have been wildly successful around the world, but The Guardian recently reported that progress is slowing for one specific reason.
What's happening?
The phrase "plastic bag ban" lacks nuance, as it tends to describe policies structured to incentivize reusable bag use, typically by levying a very small fee on plastic bags.
It's been around a decade since countries, counties, cities, and other jurisdictions began imposing plastic bag fees, and good outcomes have been consistent. In May, ABC News looked at the impact of plastic bag initiatives, noting shoreline pollution dipped 37% in New Jersey.
Overall, "data shows that plastic bag bans work," ABC added.
In 2024, tech consultancy Pager Power indicated that in the United Kingdom, single-use plastic bag usage had dropped 98% since 2015, when a "ban" was enacted.
According to The Guardian, though, plastic bag use is creeping back up. The culprit?
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Online grocery shopping.
Specifically, the outlet mentioned "the so-called Ocado effect," referencing a popular purveyor of internet groceries in the UK.
In 2024, British supermarket shoppers purchased 437 million plastic bags versus 407 million in 2023 — a 7% uptick year-over-year, according to the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Among UK grocery stores, "Ocado sold more plastic bags than any other supermarket" with 221 million bags sold, up 30 million from 2023.
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Absolutely 👍 Why is this concerning?
As ABC News plainly put it, plastic bag bans "work."
Ordering groceries online is, in and of itself, not necessarily a net negative for the environment. It's also often a necessity for busy families, and allows customers to save precious hours purchasing household staples.
DEFRA's aggregate figures paint a worrisome picture, given the clear success of the UK's initiatives to curb plastic bag use. The public willingly adapted to the change, and through a change to the structure of commerce, that hard-earned change began to wane.
Per The Guardian, the "amount of plastic waste collected on beaches rose by 9.5% in 2024 compared with 2023."
That statistic was more unsettling when considering that UK shoppers likely hadn't changed their habits intentionally — the uptick in plastic pollution could be stemming in large part from a shift to shopping online, evading the notice of eco-conscious consumers.
Plastic pollution is harmful on many levels, not the least of which is the growing problem of microplastics and their impact on human health.
What's being done about it?
The paper noted that British grocery stores are taking steps to curtail single-use plastic's incursions, with some deploying reusable crates to customers.
Using less plastic is one way to address the issue directly, and the world's governments are working on a plastics treaty.
The UK government remains "committed to cutting our reliance on plastics," a DEFRA spokesperson said.
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