Do Plastic Bag Bans Actually Work?

Lawmakers have responded. Since 2010, more than 100 countries have implemented partial or total bans or fees on plastic shopping bags at either the national or subnational level. In the U.S., 611 state or local policies were enacted from 2008 to 2023—the overwhelming majority, 91%, imposed at the city or township level. 

How effective are the measures, especially in the places the bags do the greatest harm—along the coasts? A new paper in Science asked that question, and the happy answer the researchers came up with?Very effective—in some cases slashing the number of plastic bags scattered on shorelines by close to 50%. With such environmental measures as recycling and biofuels often not living up to their hype, regulating plastic bags appears to count as a bright green win.

“I was surprised to see how effective plastic bag policies have been in reducing plastic bag shoreline litter,” says Kimberly Oremus, associate professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware, and co-author of the Science paper. “While they don’t eliminate the problem, they do help mitigate it. What makes me hopeful is the growing number and geographic spread of these policies in the U.S.”