New research indicates that legislative action to reduce single-use shopping bags has seen effectiveness in communities across the United States, although further improvements are still needed.
The recent analysis included an in-depth examination of New Jersey's complete ban on single-use shopping bags as well as a comparative review of 11 studies on plastic bag restrictions in communities nationwide. It was issued by The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag.
"Policy is a major driver of the transition to the circular economy," Kate Daly of Closed Loop Partners, which manages the Consortium, said in a release.
New Jersey's sweeping ban, part of the state's Get Past Plastic Act, has proved greatly effective in the fight against retail waste. Enacted in 2022, the legislation prohibited large grocery stores from offering any single-use bag, whether paper or plastic.
Since the ban, the study found, New Jersey has seen a 96% reduction in the number of bags distributed or sold. In the 33 stores studied, more than 90 million bags were avoided over an eight-month period. Bag-related heat-trapping gas emissions were cut by 38%.
Other communities have taken different approaches to reducing single-use bags. And the analysis found that fees for all single-use bags were more effective than bans on just single-use plastic bags.
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Across the various types of restrictions, though, there were some negative effects.
Some stores, for instance, replaced thin, single-use plastic bags with thicker plastic bags, with the intention that these would be reused. However, these bags are associated with a larger environmental footprint than single-use bags unless they are used multiple times, which is often not the case.
Many consumers complain that they have accumulated too many such reusable bags. And Closed Loop's release noted that in addition to putting policy in place, "consumers must also be supported in adopting waste-free behavior," indicating the importance of taking their preferences and habits into account.
Additionally, stores often dislike the higher cost associated with these thicker plastic bags.
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Still, while current restrictions haven't been perfect, anything that reduces the prevalence of single-use bags is a big step in the right direction. An estimated 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide each year, significantly contributing to the massive amounts of plastic that fill our oceans and landfills.
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