Banning the plastic bag
Interventions to reduce the use of plastic bags have been implemented in various countries, with methods ranging from banning the sale of lightweight bags, charging customers for lightweight bags and generating taxes from stores that sell them. The European Union has made it mandatory upon all member states to reduce the use of plastic bags. To meet this European obligation, the Netherlands has banned the distribution of free plastic bags from January 2016 onwards. A levy is required, but the shopkeepers are free to specify the exact price for the plastic bags. The government advises 25 Euro cents per bag, but most stores give the bags away for only 5 or 10 cents. The Human Environment And Transport Inspectorate checks if shopkeepers are abiding by the law and are not giving plastic bags away free of charge. Exceptions exist for bags provided in markets and free bags provided in the vegetable sections of the supermarkets.
The effects of the ban have been assessed by a study that found that the amount of plastic bags that are given to customers in shops is reduced by 71%. 300 shopkeepers saw that 40-60% of their customers now bring their own bags. Overall, the ban has resulted in 40% less plastic bags ending up as litter.
As an alternative to the plastic bag, 3 out of 10 shopkeepers now offer a free paper bag. Especially in popular Dutch clothing stores, like Zara, Bershka and America Today, the bought clothes are put in a paper bag for free. While paper bags are judged by most consumers as being more environmentally friendly, these alternative bags may be as harmful to the environment as their plastic rivals.
Critical assessment
Studies investigating the bag bans in California concluded that costumers actually buy more plastic trash bags now, which reduces the environmental effects of the bans significantly. The studies found out that bans reduced the use of disposable shopping bags by 40 million pounds a year, but increased the purchase of trash bags by 12 million pounds. These bags, designed specifically for waste, are similar in size to single-use plastic shopping bags but are heavier and thus contain more plastic. This unwanted consequence of the plastic bag ban is also seen in Ireland. Future research needs to find out if this trend is visible in the Netherlands too.
In addition to the increasing use of trash bags, the use of paper bags has also substantially risen. These bags have their own environmental impacts. According to a UK Environmental Agency report, a paper bag needs to be re-used four times to have a lower environmental impact than a single-use plastic bag when looking at resource use, energy, and greenhouse emissions. Cotton bags, another much-used alternative for plastic bags, need to be re-used at least 173 times.