Plastic Bags: A Policy Analysis

As the result of the 5p bag charge it has helped and linked in with recycling, people re using the bags because they want to avoid the 5p charge have helped with recycling , and recycling helps to improve human health as it helps the reduction of rubbish going in to landfills.

He sites from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “plastic bags, sacks, and wraps of all kinds (not just grocery bags) make up only about 1.6 percent of all municipal solid waste materials. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) bags, which are the most common kind of plastic grocery bags make up just 0.3 percent of this total.” From this statistic, plastic bags are not using a lot of waste that the average person would assume. Also, most users of plastic bags

The claims that plastic bags are worse for the environment over reusable bags are deceitful. Compared to paper bags, plastic grocery bags produce fewer greenhouse gases, require 70 percent less energy to make, generate 80 percent, less waste, and utilize less than 4 percent of the amount of water needed to make them. The reason for this is because plastic bags are lighter and take up less space. Another reason reusable bags aren't as useful is because they are more prone to food contamination if not washed properly. A study found that San Francisco’s plastic bag ban in 2007 resulted in more visits to the hospital from patients suffering E. coli, salmonella, and other infectious diseases from

More than 150 California towns and counties have bag ban ordinances, a number that has grown in 2016. Proposition 65 should be passed because the profit made from the paper bag fee will go towards environmental projects, environmental projects are important because it affects everyone and has to be solved at one point and why wait until it gets serious to the point that our taxes might increase. It is specifically on how it wants the paper bag fee to be spent on environmental projects instead of it being pocket money for the retail/grocery store. If voters vote no on the proposition, then they are agreeing to give grocery and retail stores $300 million in profits. The following is a simple description on the process of prop 65 “Requires stores

The objective of this report is to illustrate the effect of the implementation of a plastic bag tax in Australia. By providing a brief overview of issues, correlated with plastic bag consumption in conjunction with current and proposed changes to policies in Australia. Through the application of economic theory, it can determined whether a tax would decrease consumption and through supporting evidence indicating its efficiency when applied in practice.

The purpose of this proposition is to give shoppers the option of which carryout bag they choose while remaining environmentally conscious about the use of plastic bags. Proposition 65 will stop retail stores from keeping the money collected from carryout bag taxes as profit and instead give the funds to environmental conservation efforts. Opposers of Prop 65 argue that this initiative is a distraction devised by the plastics industry to deceive voters into believing that allocating revenue from carryout bags to conservation efforts is enough to help the environment, when in actuality the use of plastic bags should be eradicated entirely. Additionally, opposers contend that Prop 65 will undermine retailers by requiring them to bear the cost

As you can see, banning plastic bags have many benefits for not only you, but also the environment. It will save animals, prevent toxins from entering into the air, and encourage people to use reusable bags. Motherjones.com states, “Californians alone throw away 14 billion (plastic bags) a year, creating 123,000 tons of waste and untold amounts of litter.” So, please ban plastic

To many, plastic bags are seen as malevolent and criminal, and heavy campaigns have been pushed into our communities to ban the use of them and enforce those beliefs, but in actuality, plastic bags aren’t as horrible as we make them out to be for

In 2013, the Senate disapproved of the law which would ban plastic bags in California. Environmentalist wanted to limit the waste the country produced, so they brought the case to court. This incident caused Adam B. Summers to think about the uses of plastic bags. He thought of various uses plastic bags have and the negative effects a ban on them would cause the California economy. Although his essay consists of only nine bullet points, Summers makes a great argument against banning plastic bags.

I also question the thought process in allowing paper bags during a four week period in November is a safer alternative than plastic garbage bags. I don’t feel paper bags would protect their employees any better from broken glass and Sharps, paper bags don’t close at the top which enables homeowners to overfilled them, as well paper bags don’t have handles to grab which forces the employee to exercise SAFELIFT techniques during collection, which in turn could increase back injuries if not used or used improperly.

Another reason why there shouldn't be a fee on plastic bags is amount to additional taxes, The author Lee Califf in upfront magazine explain “The fee amounts to a tax will make people hard to make end meet, A recent study suggests that the total number of plastic bags used in Washington, D.C.,* has actually increased since 2010, when a 5-cent fee went into effect.” The amount of additional taxes for plastic bags would cost it more than the taxes of plastic bags now and will make people to think not to buy plastic bags in stores just because of the taxes. If there will be more additional taxes than five cents human in the place that had taxes on the store that had more than five cent would not be getting the bags in that store that had more

Recently Santa Barbara began legislation to expand the new ordinance to ban the use of single use plastic bags in unincorporated areas on July 21, 2015 (Independent). This ordinance was aptly named the “Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance”, which would work on a two tiered scheduled system in which certain stores based on the schedule would be prohibited from providing single-use plastic carry out bags to customers at the point of sale and would require a ten cent charge to provide customers with each paper bag. The schedule would prohibit any supermarket, and store with a pharmacy larger than 10,000 square feet from giving single use plastic bags on and after May 14, 2014. On or after November 14, 2014 for smaller grocery stores and others. This schedule was then adjusted for the unincorporated areas with the respective dates, with larger stores on March 22, 2016 and September 24, 2016 (Single Use Bags). This ban is a reflection of an ongoing statute proposed to ban bags in California in early 2015 but due to groups opposing the ban it has been put on hold until November 2016 (Ballotpedia).

Plastic bags cause a massive amount of pollution to the earth. It lets out lots of CO2 into the air with the production of it. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that if let out too much at one time can hurt the planet. Not only do plastic bags produce pollution while being made, but also when they are decomposing. Plastic bags go on to last for up to 10-1000 years. That is possibly 1000 years that a plastic bag goes on to add the huge amount of trash in the world. Although plastic bags take so long to decompose they do eventually break down. Exposure to a lot of sunlight and wind will also speed up the process of the decomposition of plastic bags. The breaking down of plastic bags seems like a good thing, however it is the complete opposite. Plastic bags are broken down into microscopic particles that are toxic. Those toxic particles then go on to hurt the environment. An articles states, “They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.”. This goes to show that those

At the time plastic bags were introduced, they offered many advantages over the other options shoppers had at the grocery store. Plastic bags are very affordable. Because plastic bags are affordable, more stores began to stock them as a cheaper alternative to paper bags. The more stores that stocked plastic bags, the more people started to use plastic bags. When shoppers choose plastic bags over paper bags, the stores save money because they are spending less on bags. Plastic bags were also more appealing to the shopper than paper bags. Plastic bags are thin and flexible, which means they can be stored very easily. Plastic bags are lighter than paper bags, waterproof, unlike paper bags, and strong enough to carry most groceries. Another advantage is that shoppers could carry many plastic bags at once, unlike paper bags. Shoppers can reuse their plastic bags for things besides groceries, as well. For example, shoppers can use plastic bags as trash bags, or bags to put wet swimsuits or dirty laundry in. Because plastic bags are affordable, physically better than paper bags, and could be reused; many shoppers and stores began using plastic over paper.

As the United States deals with the overwhelming amounts of waste building up, Nitin et al explain that “plastics take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years to biodegrade” once they are discarded (Nitin). Changes in recycling methods can no longer keep up with the exorbitant amount of waste produced in the United States. This is why some states choose to take their initiative one step further by placing either fees or a ban on the use of plastic bags. Due to the enormous waste the United States produces on a daily basis and the negative outcomes of this trash including adverse health effects, harmful impacts on nature, and the exponential piling of trash in landfills, the US government should ban plastic bags.