What are Governments Doing to Encourage the use of Reusable Shopping Bags?
Numerous city and national governments across the globe have begun to take action against excessive plastic bag consumption, from mandating taxes on them to banning them outright. These actions have prompted many shoppers to break the habit of using plastic bags in favor of reusable bags.
According to many sources, political measures discouraging plastic bag use are already in place in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, England, Eritrea, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Rwanda, Singapore, Somaliland, South Africa, Taiwan, Uganda and the United States. Ireland’s tax on shoppers who carry plastic bags, known as the “PlasTax,” has famously decreased plastic bag use in that country by 90% since its inception in 2002. This has resulted in a drop in consumption of 1 billion fewer bags per year. Consumers pay a tax of 22 euro cents per bag (increased from fifteen cents in 2007), the proceeds of which help fund environmental projects. The PlasTax has worked so well to discourage plastic bag consumption that many other cities have followed suit. It has become the norm in many other European countries for shoppers to either bring their own reusable bags or pay for bags at the register.
Some governments such as in China, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya have passed laws regulating the thickness of bags, while bans on plastic bags have been favored in Paris, San Francisco, England, China, Australia, India, Singapore and Bangladesh. Earlier this year, China’s state council banned the use of plastic bags thinner than 25/1000th of a millimeter due to litter and petroleum waste issues. The government also requires stores to charge for thicker plastic bags. In 2003 the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh outlawed the production and use of all polyethylene bags, imposing a penalty of up to seven years in prison or a $2,000 fine for anyone caught carrying them. Politicians claim that the bags interfere with the health of the soil and create unsightly litter.
San Francisco’s ban on plastic bags, passed in March, prohibits large grocery stores and chain pharmacies from distributing plastic bags. Instead, many stores have had to switch to either paper or compostable bags and encourage the use of reusable shopping bags. Other US cities such as Boston, Austin, Bakersfield, New Haven, Annapolis and Phoenix are also considering bans. Some applaud these measures as a positive step toward addressing the environmental damage caused by plastic bags, namely non-biodegradable waste and the CO2 emissions that result from their production.
Others criticize plastic bag bans, arguing that they fail to remedy the over-consumption of disposable bags in general and instead encourage increased use of paper and compostable plastic, both of which have their own negative environmental impacts. As long as we as consumers have a choice as to what kind of bag we use, we can address all of these environmental issues with disposable bags simply by carrying our own reusable bags.
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