Washington Examiner – Mixed bag: How plastic checkout bag bans have fared
November 12, 2024
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.
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.
The study found California’s 2016 ban to be a failure because it only reduced the number of bags rather than the amount of waste.