The shift to alternatives to bags made from plastic film resulted in customers using alternative bags, which contain more plastic and produce higher greenhouse gas emissions, the study found.
Anew report finds that a ban on single-use plastic bags in New Jersey resulted in a three-fold increase in plastic consumption.
New Jersey banned plastic bags in 2022, and total film-plastic bag volumes declined by more than 60%, according to the study by Freedonia Custom Research.
However, the study found people switched from the banned bags to alternative bags, and this resulted in a three-fold increase in total plastic consumption for bags.
The reusable bags that are sold to consumers as an alternative to the banned bags are often made from non-woven polypropylene, which is not widely recycled in the U.S. and typically contains no post-consumer recycled materials. The shift to these bags contributed to a 500% increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
Everything goes in cycles, this cycle will end at some point and we’ll go back to single use plastic bags for groceries.
No we aren’t. Plastic bags were only around for a few decades. They were a massive waste. There’s no reason to go back. Times change. Move on with your life.
Yeah, but the heavier ones aren’t flying around the streets, in the trees or wrapped around a bicycle chain, a seagull wing or a porpoise snout, so the warriors are happier than ever.
Who’s laughing now