The Environmental Impact of Plastic Bag Bans
Published:
Publisher: The Takeaway - WNYC Studios
Duration: 9:44
Summary from website: On March 1st, New York became the latest state to institute a ban on single-use plastic bags. Stores will also be charging a five-cent fee for paper shopping bags. Now there will be some exceptions to this, but overall, the aim is to cut down on the state’s plastic consumption. According to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, New Yorkers had been using roughly 23 billion plastic bags per year.
Currently, California and Oregon also have statewide plastic bag bans, and cities across the country have implemented bans and taxes on the bags. While the bans and taxes are piecemeal at the moment, research has indicated they are one way of effectively cutting down on plastic consumption.
Joining The Takeaway to discuss what plastic bag bans mean for consumers and for the environment are Tatiana Homonoff, an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at New York University, and Julia Stein, the Project Director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law.
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Link: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/environmental-impact-plastic-bag-bans