14 DAY TRIAL // A new paper authored by H. Sterling Burnett with the US National Center for Policy Analysis says that, as surprising as this may sound, banning plastic bags is not a good idea neither environmentally- nor financially-wise.
In his report, H. Sterling Burnett details that, as part of his investigation, he looked at how plastic bag bans or restrictions in six different urban areas across the country influenced those regions’ ecological footprint and economy.
The urban areas that he focused on are as follows: the city of San Jose in California, the county and city of Los Angeles in California, the cities of Brownsville and Austin in Texas, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.
The researcher found that, once the use of plastic bags is either outlawed or limited, consumers are left with no choice except switch to using paper bags and reusable bags, Environmental Leader reports.
The problem is that these two types of bags, i.e. paper and reusable ones, require more energy and more resources to manufacture, and are therefore linked to more greenhouse gas emissions.
Hence, specialist H. Sterling Burnett argues that they are to blame for more waste and pollution than plastic bags.
“Every type of grocery bag incurs environmental costs, but the evidence shows that in terms of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use and various toxic inputs and emissions, paper and reusable bags are worse for the environment than plastic bags,” the researcher writes in his paper.
“Some believe plastic bags are a highly visible aesthetic challenge, and problematic for wildlife, especially in the ocean. However, plastic grocery bags make up just 0.6 percent of all litter,” he adds. Otherwise, disposing of them is not all that costly.
H. Sterling also points out that plastic bags can be recycled, and that recycling them does not cost as much as many people think.
Due to the fact that most reusable bags come from China, and many plastic bags are actually made in the US, H. Sterling Burnett says that banning the latter can be described as “handing China control of yet another industry.”