Eight States Ban Plastic Bags, but More Prohibit Local Bans

Eight states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont—ban the use of plastic bags in supermarkets and other businesses. Soon, New Jersey will be added to the list as its legislature recently passed a ban. Some cities (e.g. Boston, Chicago, and Seattle) have also enacted bans on plastic bags. Fifteen states, however, enacted laws to restrict local officials from enacting a ban on plastic bags to ensure that laws would be uniform throughout their states. The states and cities that have enacted bans on plastic bags have done so despite studies showing that most plastic bags (78 percent) have a secondary life where people use them for packing lunches or disposing of pet waste or other garbage. Many of the cities and states that have banned plastic bags have overturned them temporarily during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, realizing that they were more sanitary and safer than reusable bags, which are often not washed regularly and more easily carry bacteria and viruses, according to studies on the subject.

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