Banning or introducing charges for plastic bags is helping to prevent them from ending up on US shorelines, according to a new study examining the country’s litter problem.
Data gathered from thousands of clean-up events revealed that areas which implemented measures to reduce plastic bag use saw a decrease of at least 25% in the proportion of bags found, compared to areas that had no such policies.
The research found that bans or charges were more effective when introduced at the state level rather than by individual towns, and had the greatest impact in locations that initially had more severe litter issues.
Despite this encouraging trend, the researchers warned that, overall, the total number of plastic bags being found across the US is still rising — albeit at a slower rate in areas that have taken action.
Plastic bag regulations vary significantly across the United States — by state, county, and municipality — which made the country a useful case study for evaluating the effectiveness of different policies.
These policies range from outright bans or partial bans (such as prohibiting only lightweight bags), to levies on bags, and pre-emption laws that stop local authorities from introducing their own rules.
The researchers used data from shoreline clean-ups, where plastic bags were recorded as a proportion of total litter collected, to compare areas with policies against those without.
On average, plastic bags accounted for 4.5% of all items collected, making them the fifth most common item after cigarette ends, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps, and plastic drinks bottles.
The study employed various statistical models, which estimated that areas with policies experienced a relative reduction in plastic bags of between 25% and 47%.
Analysing 182 policies and 45,067 clean-up events conducted between 2016 and 2023, the researchers described their work as the most comprehensive analysis to date of how effective such measures are in tackling shoreline plastic pollution.
The findings underline the important role that policy can play in reducing plastic waste, said lead author Anna Papp.
One key opportunity for action, she added, lies in the first global plastics treaty, which 175 countries are due to resume negotiations on in August, after talks stalled in December.
“Stronger results in areas with a higher baseline of plastic bag litter means these policies may be especially effective in these areas,” she said.
“It’s also very important to keep in mind with the treaty, plastic bag policy addresses just one part of the problem.
“More comprehensive solutions are needed to address it entirely, with a focus on the production side, consumption, and waste,” she said.
However, the study also emphasises that although policies are reducing the proportion of plastic bags among shoreline litter, the absolute number of bags is still increasing in both regulated and unregulated areas.
This is because overall plastic pollution continues to rise, meaning that even effective policies can only partially offset the trend.
In the UK, where charges for single-use plastic bags were first introduced in 2011, a survey found that the number of bags washed up on beaches had fallen by 80% over the course of a decade.
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