In 2014, California banned thin plastic disposable shopping bags. They only allowed thicker, reusable plastic bags.
The problem is that people still throw away the thick bags. Now the weight of disposed plastic bags has increased by 30 percent.
As a result, the country now wants to ban all plastic bags completely.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
California's war on plastic bags appears to have backfired. Lawmakers are trying again
It was a decade ago when California became the first state in the country to ban single-use plastic bags, sparking a wave of anti-plastic legislation from coast to coast.
But in the years since California ditched its plastic grocery bag habit, material recovery facilities and environmental activists noticed a strange trend: Plastic bag waste by weight was increasing to unprecedented levels.
According to a report by consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste were disposed of in California the year the law was passed. However, by 2022, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had risen to 231,072 tons, an increase of 47%. Even accounting for the 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.
It turns out the problem was a part of the law that allows grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier plastic bags to customers for a dime.
People are fleeing California because of taxes and crime and this is what they focus on?
Another green policy backfires:
California's plastic bag tax has increased the weight of plastic bags thrown away by nearly 30%.
Since bag taxes were enacted, plastic bags have been made thicker to become “reusable.”
But consumers ignore it anyway.
So Californians… pic.twitter.com/cNGvGBw8hD
– Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) February 13, 2024
Name a problem that Los Angeles Democrats have solved.
correct! nothing.
— Department of Injustice (@DepartmentOfIn7) February 12, 2024
Here is a video report:
California has much bigger problems to deal with.
(Image source)
