This month, Walmart is phasing out single-use paper bags and plastic bags at checkout counters in New York, Connecticut, and Colorado.
Previously, the company stopped distributing single-use plastic bags in New York and Connecticut, as well as in some areas of Colorado. Walmart is offering reusable bags starting at 74 cents for customers who don’t bring their own bags.
Walmart is trying to stay ahead of some state laws that fight plastic. Many customers are also demanding change, and Walmart has set itself a corporate green goal of zero waste manufacturing in the US by 2025.
These and other states, led by Democratic lawmakers, have taken more aggressive action on environmental policy, and Walmart sees an opportunity to expand its efforts in these states. Ten states and more than 500 localities across the country have taken action to ban or restrict the use of thin plastic bags and, in some cases, paper bags, according to the environmental group Surfrider Foundation.
In Republican states, where Walmart and other companies have been hostile to plastic cuts and other climate change measures, they have moved more slowly. According to the Surfider Foundation, 20 states have passed so-called preventive laws that prevent municipalities from enacting plastic bag regulations.
Moving away from single-use plastic and paper bags is “critical,” said Judith Enk, a former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and current president of Beyond Plastics, a nonprofit working to eliminate single-use plastic pollution.
“There are reusable alternatives,” she said. “This draws attention to the need to reduce the use of plastic. It’s easy too.”
Plastic bags appeared in supermarkets and retail chains in the 1970s and 80s. Prior to this, shoppers used paper bags to take groceries and other items home from the store. Retailers have switched to plastic bags because they are cheaper.
Americans use about 100 billion plastic bags every year. But disposable bags and other plastic items pose various environmental hazards.
Plastic production is a major source of fossil fuel emissions that contribute to the climate crisis and extreme weather events. According to a 2021 report from Beyond Plastics, the US plastics industry will be emitting at least 232 million tons of global warming emissions per year by 2020. This number is equivalent to the average emissions of 116 medium-sized coal-fired power plants.
The organization predicts that by 2030, the US plastics industry will contribute more to climate change than the country’s coal-fired power industry.
Plastic bags are also a major source of garbage that ends up in oceans, rivers and sewers, endangering wildlife. According to environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, plastic bags are the fifth most common type of plastic waste.
According to the EPA, plastic bags are not biodegradable and only 10% of plastic bags are recycled. When bags are not properly placed in regular trash cans, they can end up in the environment or clog recycling equipment at material recycling facilities.
Paper bags, on the other hand, are easier to recycle than plastic bags and are biodegradable, but some states and cities have taken the decision to ban them due to the high carbon emissions associated with their production.
As the environmental impact of plastic bags comes under scrutiny, cities and counties are starting to ban them.
The plastic bag ban has reduced the number of bags in stores and encouraged shoppers to bring reusable bags or pay a small fee for paper bags.
“The ideal bag law bans plastic bags and paper fees,” Enk said. While some customers are hesitant to bring their own bags, she compares plastic bag laws to seat belt requirements and a cigarette ban.
In New Jersey, a ban on single-use plastic and paper bags means grocery delivery services have switched to heavy-duty bags. Their customers are now complaining about tons of heavy reusable bags they don’t know what to do with.
Reusable bags – cloth bags or thicker, more durable plastic bags – aren’t ideal either, unless they’re reused.
Heavy-duty plastic bags are made from the same materials as regular thinner disposable plastic bags, but are twice as heavy and twice as environmentally friendly unless they are reused more often.
A 2020 United Nations Environment Program report found that thick, strong bags need to be used about 10 to 20 times compared to single-use plastic bags.
The production of cotton bags also has a negative impact on the environment. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, a cotton bag needs to be used 50 to 150 times to have a lesser impact on the climate than a single-use plastic bag.
There’s no data on how many times people use reusable bags, Enk said, but consumers pay for them and likely use them hundreds of times. Fabric bags are also biodegradable and, given enough time, do not pose a threat to marine life like plastic bags.
To encourage the move to reusable bags, Walmart is placing them in more locations around the store and adding signage. He also adjusted checkout queues to make it easier to use reusable bags.
In 2019, Walmart, Target and CVS also spearheaded funding for Beyond the Bag, an initiative to accelerate the replacement of single-use plastic bags.
Walmart is to be commended for its efforts to go beyond legal requirements, Enk said. She also pointed to Trader Joe’s, which uses paper bags, and Aldi, which is removing plastic bags from all of its U.S. stores by the end of 2023, as leaders in moving away from single-use plastic.
While more states are likely to ban plastic bags and retailers are phasing them out in the coming years, it will be difficult to phase out new plastic bags in the United States.
With the support of plastic industry groups, 20 states have passed so-called preventive laws that prevent municipalities from enacting plastic bag regulations, according to the Surfider Foundation.
Encke called the laws harmful and said they end up hurting local taxpayers who pay for cleaning and deal with recycling businesses when plastic bags clog equipment.
“State legislatures and governors should not prevent local governments from taking action to reduce local pollution,” she said.
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Post time: Feb-08-2023