Plastic bag ban

A plastic bag ban or charge is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags at retail establishments. In the early 21st century, there has been a global trend towards the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, commonly made from low-density polyethylene plastic, have traditionally been given for free to customers by stores when purchasing goods: the bags have long been considered a convenient, cheap, and hygienic way of transporting items. Lightweight plastic carrier bags include all carrier bags with a wall thickness below 50 microns and are not biodegradable. Problems associated with plastic bags include use of non-renewable resources (such as crude oil, gas and coal), difficulties during disposal, and environmental impacts. Concurrently with the reduction in lightweight plastic bags, shops have introduced reusable shopping bags. Various governments have banned the sale of lightweight bags, have taxed manufacturers for the production of lightweight bags, or charged the sale of lightweight plastic bags in stores, placing the tax burden on consumers. The Bangladesh government of Begum Khaleda Zia was the first to do so in 2002, imposing a total ban on lightweight plastic bags. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of public policies intended to phase out plastic carryout bags tripled. As of 2024, regulations have been introduced in 127 countries, with 27 countries implementing bans on the sale to consumers and 30 countries implementing charges on the sale to consumers.

Issues Plastic bags cause many minor and major ecological and environmental issues. The most general issue with plastic bags is the amount of waste produced. Many plastic bags end up on streets and subsequently pollute major water sources, rivers, and streams. Even when disposed of properly, they take many years to decompose and break down, generating large amounts of garbage over long periods of time. Improperly discarded bags have polluted waterways, clogged sewers and been found in oceans, affecting the ecosystem of marine creatures. Huge volumes of plastic waste end up in the oceans every year, causing threats to marine species and disruption to the marine food chain. Several microbial species colonize on plastic particles enhancing their harmfulness, and plastic particles driven by winds form garbage patches in various parts of the oceans. The UN estimates that there will be more plastics than fish in the oceans by 2050 unless countries comes up with urgent measures to promote efficient production, use and waste management of plastics throughout their life cycles. Two primary kinds of direct damage to wildlife are entanglement and ingestion. Animals can become entangled and drown. Plastic bags are often ingested by animals that cannot distinguish them from food. As a result, they clog their intestines which results in death by starvation. Plastic bags can block drains, trap birds and kill livestock. The World Wide Fund for Nature has estimated that over 100,000 whales, seals, and turtles die every year as a result of eating or being trapped by plastic bags. In India, an estimated number of 20 cows die per day as a result of ingesting plastic bags and having their digestive systems clogged by the bags. It is also very common across Africa to have sewers and drain systems clogged by bags which cause severe cases of malaria due to the increased population of mosquitoes that live on the flooded sewers. The term "white pollution" has been coined in China to describe the local and global effects of discarded plastic bags upon the environment. Lightweight plastic bags are also blown into trees and other plants and can be mistaken for food. Plastic bags break down by polymer degradation but not by biodegradation. As a result, any toxic additives they contain—including flame retardants, antimicrobials, and plasticizers—will be released into the environment. Many of those toxins directly affect the endocrine systems of organisms, which control almost every cell in the body. Research shows the average operating "lifespan" of a plastic bag to be approximately 20 years. Plastic bags dumped in the Pacific Ocean can end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 80% of the plastic waste comes from land; the rest comes from oil platforms and ships. This can be eaten by marine animals, and block their breathing passages and digestive systems. Plastic bags not only add to the Great Pacific garbage patch, they can be washed ashore around the world.

Methods The two most popular methods of phasing out lightweight plastic bags are charges and bans, but there are a number of methods which have been found effective.

Lightweight plastic charges Lightweight plastic charges include all taxes, levies, and fees placed on the sale of single use plastic bags to consumers. As of 2018, 30 countries charge consumers when they purchase lightweight carrier bags. The charge strategy has all the same results in plastic bag reduction as a plastic bag ban, with the additional benefit of creating a new revenue source. The plastic bag charge method also protects consumer choice, which the ban does not.

Lightweight plastic bans Lightweight plastic bans constitute strict bans on the sale and distribution of single use plastic bags to consumers by retailers. As of 2018, 27 countries had completely banned the sale of plastic lightweight carrier bags. The ban strategy, while being the most effective and direct approach to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bags, increases the consumption of non-banned bags, plastic carriers slightly thicker than the lightweight bags which are still disposed of by consumers. In this way, bans decrease lightweight bag consumption, but increase other plastic carrier consumption and pollution.

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