California’s Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags Backfires

California’s ban on single-use plastic shopping bags has backfired as data shows the move has increased plastic waste, rather than reduced it.

The state banned the disposable plastic shopping bags in 2014.

However, the ban didn’t include thicker, reusable plastic bags, which are still allowed.

The problem is that consumers are still using the thicker bags in the same way as the banned ones and are throwing them in the trash after just one use.

This has caused the weight of plastic bags being thrown away to increase by 30 percent.

As a result, California officials now want to ban all plastic bags completely.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

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“California’s war on plastic bag use seems to have backfired.

“Lawmakers are trying again

“It was a decade ago when California became the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags, ushering in a wave of anti-plastic legislation from coast to coast.

“But in the years after California seemingly kicked its plastic grocery sack habit, material recovery facilities, and environmental activists noticed a peculiar trend: Plastic bag waste by weight was increasing to unprecedented levels.

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“According to a report by the consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed.

“By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump.

“Even accounting for an increase in population, the number rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022.

“The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime.”

Many took to social media to blast state officials for continuing to push green agenda policies while California continues to buckle under soaring crime, high taxes, and homelessness.

Local media reports suggest that state Democrats may force store to switch to paper bags instead.

WATCH:

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