REDUCING DISPOSABLE BAG POLLUTION
According to the EPA, between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. These bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, but they remain in our landfills, oceans, parks and beaches for thousands of years. Both plastic and paper disposable bags are costly, environmentally damaging, and completely unnecessary. Problems with disposable bags include:
Wasting Natural Resources
It requires vast amounts of natural resources, water, and energy to manufacture and ship disposable bags. Plastic bags are made from fossil fuels, and it requires 2.2 billion pounds of fossil fuel and 3.9 billion gallons of fresh water to produce the 100 billion plastic bags the US consumes each year. The manufacturing of these bags produces a billion pounds of solid waste and 2.7 million tons of CO2 per year. Manufacturing and shipping paper bags require even more energy and water, and create more pollution, than plastic bags. In addition, producing the paper bags used in the U.S. each year requires 14 million trees.
Causing Localized Flooding
Plastic bags never fully break down, and often clog storm drains and damage infrastructure on their way to become ocean pollution. In 1998, plastic bag pollution in Bangledesh clogged storm drains and was the primary cause of severe floods that submerged 2/3 of the country.
Negatively Impacting on Wildlife and Waterways
The mass consumption of plastic products has created a plastic wasteland in our oceans. Globally, there is now more plastic in our oceans than plankton, with 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean. Marine and avian are choked and strangled by discarded bags, and are killed by consuming partially broken-down plastic pieces. This plastic pollution negatively impacts 267 species of marine life.
Increasing Costs to Consumers and Taxpayers
Though plastic and paper bags are given out for free at check-out counters, U.S. retailers spend $4 billion per year on disposable bags, and that cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Once bags are consumed, they are also expensive to clean up and dispose of. For example, New York City spends $10 million disposing of plastic bags.
Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB)
In an effort to protect the environment and save money, individuals, businesses and municipalities have been making the switch to reusable bags. There is a global movement away from disposable bags, and through a combination of education and legislation, municipalities all over the world have made the permanent switch to environmentally friendly and cost-effective reusable bags. Laws that either ban or place a fee on disposal bags have proven effective at reducing disposable bag pollution and promoting reusable bag use. From China to Italy to Hawaii, successful disposable bag laws have set a global example for promoting BYOB behavior.
Disposable Bag Laws
Locally, CCE has worked with municipalities in New York and Connecticut to educate the public on the importance of reusable bag use and to pass legislation to incentivize the public to switch to reusable bags. Beginning with Long Island and Hudson Valley BYOB educational campaigns, CCE has worked with thousands of residents, hundreds of businesses, and dozens of municipalities to reduce disposable bag use and switch permanently to reusable bags as an alternative.
Based on the success of these local laws, both Connecticut and New York have taken action and are among the first states to pass legislation that encourages residents to switch to reusable bags. New York State enacted legislation in 2019 (effective March 1, 2020) to ban carryout plastic bags and allow cities and counties to enact a 5cent fee on paper bags to further reduce disposable bag use. New York City, Suffolk County, the City of Long Beach, Ulster County, Tompkins County, Albany County, and other local governments have taken that important step to adopt the state’s 5-cent fee on paper bags. CCE continues to urge all cities and counties to adopt this important fee to reduce disposable bag use.
In Connecticut, legislation was passed to adopt a 10-cent fee on plastic bags, effective August 1, 2019, and a ban on carryout plastic bags, effective July 1, 2021. The legislation allows local governments to go further, such as banning carryout plastic bags sooner and enacting fees on paper bags. CCE continues to work with local governments to support local plastic bag bans and fees on paper bags.
