Bagging Plastic

Paper or plastic? That’s a question New Yorkers won’t hear at the supermarket checkout counter anymore. A ban on disposable plastic bags went into effect in the state of New York at the start of last month, in an effort to cut down on plastic waste.

“For far too long, these bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement proposing the ban last year.

New York has joined a growing list of places enacting legislation on single-use plastic bags (see map, below). Three other states—California, Hawaii,* and Oregon—already have bans on plastic bags, and four more states recently passed bans that will go into effect either later this year or next. More than 400 cities, towns, and counties have also banned plastic bags or placed taxes or fees on their use. But a number of states have moved in the opposite direction: They’ve banned plastic bag bans, arguing that they do more harm than good.

To many environmental advocates, though, New York’s law is the right call. They hope it leads to the end of single-use plastic bags in a lot more states.

“This is the first really big push back against disposable culture,” says Peter Iwanowicz of Environmental Advocates of New York, which promoted the ban. “This feels to me like a seminal moment,” he adds, “like the first indoor smoking bans or tobacco taxes.”

Paper or plastic? That’s a question New Yorkers won’t hear at the supermarket checkout counter anymore.

A ban on disposable plastic bags went into effect in the state of New York at the start of last month. The move is part of an effort to cut down on plastic waste.

“For far too long, these bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement proposing the ban last year.

New York has joined a growing list of places enacting legislation on single-use plastic bags (see map, facing page). Three other states—California, Hawaii,* and Oregon—already have bans on plastic bags. Four more states recently passed bans that will go into effect either later this year or next. And more than 400 cities, towns, and counties have also banned plastic bags or placed taxes or fees on their use. But some states have moved in the opposite direction. They’ve banned plastic bag bans, arguing that they do more harm than good.

Still, many environmental advocates consider New York’s law to be the right call. They hope it leads to the end of single-use plastic bags in a lot
more states.

“This is the first really big push back against disposable culture,” says Peter Iwanowicz of Environmental Advocates of New York, which promoted the ban. “This feels to me like a seminal moment,” he adds, “like the first indoor smoking bans or tobacco taxes.”

There are exceptions to New York’s ban, such as food takeout bags used by restaurants. But the aim is to promote alternatives to plastic: paper—which individual counties in New York can decide to put a 5-cent fee on—or reusable bags made of cloth or other materials.

Americans today use a lot of plastic bags. In fact, we threw away 4 million tons of plastic bags and wraps in 2017, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Less than 10 percent of that waste was recycled.

Most plastic bags pile up in landfills, where they take as much as 1,000 years to break down; they blow across streets and get caught in trees; or they end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Once in waterways, plastic bags pose a serious threat to birds and marine wildlife, which often get caught in them or mistake them for food, choke on them, and die. Bags can also fill up an animal’s stomach, making it impossible for the creature to eat, causing it to starve.

There are exceptions to New York’s ban, such as food takeout bags used by restaurants. But the aim is to promote alternatives to plastic. Those alternatives include paper or reusable bags made of cloth or other materials. The ban allows individual counties in New York to decide if they want to put a 5-cent fee on paper bags.

Americans today use a lot of plastic bags. In fact, we threw away 4 million tons of plastic bags and wraps in 2017, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Less than 10 percent of that waste was recycled.

Most plastic bags pile up in landfills, where they take as much as 1,000 years to break down. Some blow across streets and get caught in trees. And others end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Once in waterways, plastic bags pose a serious threat to birds and marine wildlife. These animals often get caught in them or mistake them for food, choke on them, and die. Bags can also fill up an animal’s stomach, making it impossible for the creature to eat, causing it to starve.

Many environmental advocates have applauded New York’s ban. They point out that measures in other places have significantly reduced plastic bag usage. For instance, California’s ban led to a 72 percent drop in their use, as people switched to alternatives. A study in Washington, D.C., found that a 5-cent bag fee there had cut down on plastic pollution in waterways.

Disposable plastic bags aren’t a concern only in the U.S.: 83 countries, including Bangladesh, France, and Kenya, ban them or impose a fee for their use, according to the United Nations.

However, not everyone is on board. Many storeowners worry that a ban on plastic bags could hurt their business, because it might lead people to buy fewer items. They also say paper bags are more expensive, so they may have to charge people for them.

“This is going to be the worst thing to happen to this store,” says Sal Husain, who manages a grocery store in New York City. “It’s OK to protect the environment, but there’s going to be a lot of problems with customers.”

The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, which represents the U.S. plastic bag industry, also points out that nearly 30,000 Americans work in plastic bag manufacturing and recycling—and many of those workers are at risk of losing their jobs if more states ban plastic bags.

While bag bans multiply, 15 states have passed laws preventing localities from banning or taxing plastic bags. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed such a bill in 2019. “I want to make sure I make it easy for industry to do business in Oklahoma,” he said.

Many environmental advocates have applauded New York’s ban. They point out that measures in other places have significantly reduced plastic bag usage. For instance, California’s ban led to a 72 percent drop in their use, as people switched to alternatives. A study in Washington, D.C., found that a 5-cent bag fee there had cut down on plastic pollution in waterways.

Disposable plastic bags aren’t a concern only in the U.S. In fact, 83 countries ban them or set a fee for their use, according to the United Nations. Bangladesh, France, and Kenya are among the countries that have taken some sort of action.

But not everyone is on board. Many storeowners worry that a ban on plastic bags could hurt their business. They fear it might lead people to buy fewer items. They also say paper bags are more expensive, so they may have to charge people for them.

“This is going to be the worst thing to happen to this store,” says Sal Husain, who manages a grocery store in New York City. “It’s OK to protect the environment, but there’s going to be a lot of problems with customers.”

The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance represents the U.S. plastic bag industry. The group points out that nearly 30,000 Americans work in plastic bag manufacturing and recycling. Many of those workers are at risk of losing their jobs if more states ban plastic bags.

While bag bans multiply, 15 states have passed laws preventing localities from banning or taxing plastic bags. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed such a bill in 2019. “I want to make sure I make it easy for industry to do business in Oklahoma,” he said.

One of the goals of plastic bag bans is to address climate change by reducing the planet-warming emissions from fossil fuels used to make the bags. But it’s not entirely clear whether the alternatives to plastic are better for the climate.

According to a study by Britain’s Environment Agency, producing paper bags uses more energy—and results in more emissions—than manufacturing disposable plastic bags. The same is true for reusable bags, such as cotton totes. In fact, the study found, a shopper would have to reuse a cotton bag 131 times before it had less of an impact on climate change than a single-use plastic bag.

One of the goals of plastic bag bans is to address climate change by reducing the planet-warming emissions from fossil fuels used to make the bags. But it’s not entirely clear whether the alternatives to plastic are better for the climate.

According to a study by Britain’s Environment Agency, producing paper bags uses more energy than manufacturing disposable plastic bags. Doing so also results in more emissions. The same is true for reusable bags, such as cotton totes. In fact, the study found, a shopper would have to reuse a cotton bag 131 times before it had less of an impact on climate change than a single-use plastic bag.

However, when it comes to litter, environmental advocates say plastic still causes the biggest problems. Paper bags are biodegradable and get recycled at a higher rate. And many environmentalists argue that you can offset the harm that reusable bags cause to the climate by using them over and over again.

That means people might have to get in the habit of bringing a reusable bag with them wherever they go. But officials in New York think that will soon become a reflex. Says Erica Ringewald of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation: “You leave the house, you say, ‘I got my keys, I got my phone, I got my sunglasses, I got my bag.’”

But environmental advocates say plastic still causes the biggest litter problems. Paper bags are biodegradable and get recycled at a higher rate. And many environmentalists argue that you can offset the harm that reusable bags cause to the climate by using them over and over again.

That means people might have to get in the habit of bringing a reusable bag with them wherever they go. But officials in New York think that will soon become part of people’s daily routine. Says Erica Ringewald of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation: “You leave the house, you say, ‘I got my keys, I got my phone, I got my sunglasses, I got my bag.’”