Plastic Bag Bans at (Don’t) Work. Reusing and Recycling Bags Does.
Do you know many stores have a plastic bag (clean film) recycling bin available? Often it is near the entrance of the store. Over a billion pounds of plastic bags are recycled annually. Many more are reused. Unfortunately some people use these bins as trash receptacles so some stores hide the bins. Ask your store where they keep them.
Survey’s show a large majority of shoppers prefer free recyclable plastic grocery bags (>70%). They are easier to carry, don’t fall apart in a rainstorm, tear less, have many reuses and are recyclable. Yet many state and local governments ignore the preference of their constituents and have taxed or banned stores from giving out free plastic bags (as California, New York and Colorado have). They claim these bans in the name of the environment and as a solution for litter.
Most people don’t realize that when towns or states ban free plastic grocery bags sales of plastic bags increase. People have to buy more trash bags, dog poop bags, etc. to replace the free plastic grocery bags they were reusing. In my town some stores have removed the bag recycling bins because of these bans. These are just some of the unintended consequences of a bag ban. Here are a few more.
The heavy duty reusable bags sold to replace free recyclable plastic grocery bags are typically made in China or India, from plastic. Kroger is planning to stop giving away 8+ billion free bags annually by 2025. They claim this is a green initiative. It certainly will generate billions in green $$ sales of reusable imported plastic bags. Don’t forget to wash your reusable bags as testing has found e coli and salmonella in them after a number of uses. https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2827/
Poly-Pak Industries of Melville NY is to lay off 146 workers in May 2025 because of New York’s ban on plastic bags. https://poly-pak.com/
Some good news on plastic bag recycling.
Novolex, one of the principal US manufacturers of recyclable free plastic grocery bags is teaming up with Nova a Canadian polyethylene producer to recover and recycle plastic for bags.
Trex® uses billions of recycled bags to make its plastic lumber for decks. Trex® purchases returned consumer bags and film from the majority of grocery and retail stores in the U.S., making Trex® the largest PE film recycler in the United States. Trex’s premium composite decking is made from recycled grocery bags and other plastic film. They have a national drop off directory for bags. https://nextrex.com/view/findadropoff