Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jane L Johnson
“In 2014, California — with Senate Bill SB 270 — was the first US state to implement a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags distributed at point of sale in grocery and other stores, and a requirement that stores sell more substantial reusable plastic bags made of recycled content or recycled paper bags, for which customers are charged ten cents each. … as so often occurs when a governmental policy produces an outcome at odds with the original intention — it is now apparent that consumers have not reused the sturdier reusable plastic bags, and the bags continue to constitute a large part of the waste stream. … the California Legislature is attempting to pass additional legislation … to expand the state’s plastic bag ban to prohibit the reusable recycled-content bags that were first mandated in the original 2014 legislation and upheld by a public referendum, to replace the single-use plastic version.” (09/12/24)