A new study by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center estimates that bans of single-use plastic bags can eliminate around 300 plastic bags per person every year.
The study confirms that cities and states across the country that have implemented these bans have been successful in reducing plastic bag use, and thus reducing litter and pollution.
States like New Jersey and Vermont, and cities like Philadelphia, Portland, and Santa Barbara, have cut single-use plastic bag use by about 6 billion bags per year combined. This is enough, PennEnvironment says, to circle the earth 42 times.
As of 2021, more than 500 cities and towns in 28 U.S. states had implemented a plastic bag ban. 25 of these locations were in Pennsylvania.
Ten more states implemented bans in 2023, and Colorado and Rhode Island joined that list on the first day of this year.
Faran Savitz of PennEnvironment emphasized the negative effects of single-use plastic bags getting caught in trees or blowing around streets or sidewalks. That litter is unnecessary and does harm to wildlife.
In some places where bans are in place, the plastics industry has found loopholes by replacing thin bags with thicker ones labeled “reusable.” These bags are still often used only once before they’re thrown out, causing the weight of plastic waste to increase even though the number of bags distributed has dropped.
The report suggests more policies to prevent these loopholes, including banning plastic bags of any thickness at checkouts, charging a fee for single-use bags, and maintaining strict enforcement.
Savitz emphasized that we can still live a convenient – and environmentally friendly – life without this big source of waste. “Nothing we use for just a few minutes,” he says, “should pollute the environment for centuries.”
