They found that plastic-bag litter dropped significantly in areas with bag laws, even as the national share of plastic bags found during cleanups increased to 6.7% in 2023 from 4.5% in 2016.

They found that plastic-bag litter dropped significantly in areas with bag laws, even as the national share of plastic bags found during cleanups increased to 6.7% in 2023 from 4.5% in 2016.

Policies that ban or impose fees on plastic bags are associated with a 25% to 47% decrease in plastic bag litter in shoreline cleanups, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The January 2024 study found that plastic bag bans can reduce the number of single-use bags by 296 bags per person per year, by looking at bans in two states and three cities with bans in place.

More than 600 bag policies, along with records from more than 45,000 shoreline cleanups between 2017 and 2023, were reviewed by researchers to see whether implementing bans or fees on plastic bags ...

Eight states have banned single-use plastic bags from stores, and the results of the bans have been a mixed bag, with some improvement in plastic waste but some lingering problems.

A recent comprehensive national study by Environment America, cited by the World Economic Forum, recognizes New Jersey’s plastic bag ban as the most effective of the 10 states in America with ...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning plastic bags from grocery store checkouts, including the thicker, "reusable" bags that stores switched to after an earlier ban. “We deserve a ...

A new study from the University of Delaware and Columbia University looked at plastic bag bans and fees in jurisdictions across the United States to gauge their effectiveness. The researchers found ...

Using crowdsourced data from shore cleanups, researchers found that areas that enacted plastic bag bans or fees had fewer bags littering their lakes, rivers and beaches than those without them.

As Allegheny County considers a plastic bag ban, we wanted to dig deeper into a recent study. Researchers looked at the impact of New Jersey’s statewide ban, which started in 2022.

Five dozen area K-12 teachers became students Wednesday. They learned about the proliferation of plastic pollution. They'll take what they learned back to their classrooms and teach their own ...