Following California’s ban in November 2016, New York State will begin a similar ban of single use plastic bags in March 2020, according to its FY2020 budget agreement.
While California also imposed a minimum & mandatory 10 cents fee if a recycled paper bag is provided to the customers, New York State makes it an optional 5-cent charge.
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, an estimated 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents across the state annually. New York City alone uses more than 10 billion single-use plastic bags a year. [National Geographic]
If 5 billion recycled paper bags are used in the new program with a 5-cent fee, New York City will generate an additional $250 million. [40 percent will be supporting local programs to buy reusable bags for low and fixed income consumers, and 60 percent will be supporting programs in the State’s Environmental Protection Fund]
In China, nation-wide restrictions on certain plastic bags started in 2008 and a mandatory fee is imposed. More recently, with services including food deliveries growing increasingly popular, the use of single-use plastic bags becomes harder to regulate.
On province level, Jilin Province is the first in China to ban sing-use plastic bags overall in 2015. Shoppers can bring their own reusable grocery bags or they can use biodegradable bags. In Hainan, the province will begin by banning non-biodegradable plastic bags and eating utensils by the end of 2020 and ban the material completely before 2025.
EU member states will have until 2021 to implement a ban on plastic straws, cutlery, cups, drink stirrers, and sticks for balloons. [Quartz]
A worldwide map
On the other hand, more efforts are needed than an executive/legislative order. Less expansive and environmental-friendly alternatives are needed.
A recent study from Denmark’s ministry of environment and food (agreeing with other studies) has found that no all seemingly “good” bags are ultimately good enough. A conventional cotton bag might need to be used more than 7,000 times before making a smaller cumulative environmental impact (water use, energy use, etc.) than a classic plastic bag does.
There is no easy answer. Problems not solved by a few regulatory decisions.