The Numbers Prove That Plastic Bag Bans Work

A new report from the Ocean Conservancy connects recently enacted statewide plastic bag bans to a significant drop in the number of plastic grocery bags cleaned up from beaches. The noticeable impact of law-making is a sharp contrast to the many years of effort spent urging individuals to voluntarily bring reusable bags when shopping.

Building support for plastic bag bans

In addition to providing data-driven support for new legislation, the Ocean Conservancy report also validates efforts from the business community to raise public awareness about plastic pollution, including manufacturers as well as public-facing industries like travel, fashion, sports and beverages. Even the music industry is beginning to take much-needed action to curb plastic waste.

The challenge, though, is to translate individual feelings into concrete action steps. After all, a volunteer beach cleanup does nothing to prevent the next wave of plastic litter. But awareness-raising and volunteer activities can help to build voter support for impactful legislation.

In the report, Conservancy scientists note that statewide plastic grocery bag bans covered only 12 percent of the U.S. population in 2020. Since then, new legislation has more than doubled that figure. Eleven states now have statewide bans, covering 25 percent of the U.S. population. Hundreds of municipal governments have also banned plastic bags, according to the report.

The research measures the impact of bag bans by tracking the number of bags collected by the Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup volunteers. Leaving aside a temporary surge in 2020 attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results were spectacular.

Compared to the baseline years of 2013 through 2019, the volunteers collected 29 percent fewer bags in the 2022 and 2023 cleanup season, an achievement that the Ocean Conservancy directly attributes to new statewide legislation.

Public awareness works

The overarching message of the new report is that businesses can make a difference by continuing to build public awareness about ocean plastic pollution. That includes sponsoring volunteer activities, with the crucial step of collecting data and coordinating with data-driven conservation organizations like the Ocean Conservancy to measure what is collected over time.

Volunteers with the Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup track their collected debris on the organization’s Clean Swell app or by hand. The totals go into a database kept by the Conservancy. “This database is the world’s largest repository of marine debris data and is used to inform scientists, conservation groups, governments, and industry leaders about ocean trash in support of plastic pollution prevention and advocacy efforts,” the Conservancy explained in its recent report.

The database contributed to new legislation in California and Florida in 2022, 2023, and 2024, covering balloon releases and foam products as well as plastic bags, the Conservancy reported. The data also informs the organization’s advocacy for an international plastic treaty.

Making a difference: The bipartisan infrastructure law and local economic impacts

Voter support can also make a crucial difference in other areas of ocean plastic remediation and prevention, as illustrated by a new funding recommendation of $5.2 million for the Conservancy funded through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. The law passed with a Democratic majority in the Senate and skimmed through the Republican-lead House of Representatives with 13 Republican lawmakers tipping the balance. 

The award is just one part of a $47 million carveout in the legislation for the Marine Debris Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, aimed at removing bulky marine debris. 

Announced last week, the four-year Conservancy grant will focus on a variety of bulk waste including derelict fishing nets and large balls of discarded fishing gear, often called “ghost gear.” Though the Ocean Conservancy lists plastic bags among the top five most commonly found items on beaches, ghost gear poses a far more widespread threat to marine life. However, unlike beach litter, ghost gear is often found drifting or entangled out of public view.

“Ghost gear — much of which is made of plastic — is the most harmful type of debris for marine animals, and all large marine debris threatens marine life and sensitive ecosystems,” the Ocean Conservancy noted in a press announcement about funding. "This grant will allow us to go to remote locations heavily impacted by debris and deploy specialized equipment to remove items too large to remove by hand," Allison Schutes, the organization's senior director of conservation cleanups, added in a statement.

The economic case for reducing ocean plastic waste

Once the award receives final approval, the Conservancy will work with local stakeholders in Alaska, California, and Florida to remove ghost gear and other items in remote locations that require special equipment and training to access.

“Marine debris is not just a threat to marine life; it endangers the livelihoods and cultural practices of Indigenous communities who have stewarded these Arctic waters for millennia,” Barbara ‘Wáahlaal Gidaag Blake, the Conservancy’s VP of Arctic conservation, said in a statement. Ms. Blake is a member of the Káat nay-st/Yahkw Jáanaas (Shark House/Middle Town People) Clan in Alaska, where the Conservancy coordinates cleanup efforts with local tribes.

“The Arctic is a critical region for global biodiversity and plays a vital role in regulating our planet’s climate,” Blake said. “This funding from NOAA supports our collaboration with local tribes to remove this harmful debris, protect these essential ecosystems, and ensure the resilience of communities that are key to maintaining the health of our planet.”

Local stakeholders are also front and center in California, where the Conservancy will focus on helping lobster fishers in the Santa Barbara Channel and Channel Islands implement best practices to reduce ghost gear. The funds will also cover commercial fishers in the Port of Los Angeles. Similarly, the Conservancy will work with local organizations in Florida, where its director of Florida conservation, Jon Paul Brooker, takes note of “a powerful appetite” among anglers and other stakeholders to take meaningful action to reduce plastic pollution off their shores.

The voices of local economic stakeholders can become a powerful new force in support of new legislation aimed at cutting off the ocean plastic problem at the source. As demonstrated by the increasing number of U.S. states banning plastic bags, business leaders can keep the momentum by continuing to ensure the ocean plastic issue is top of mind in the public conversation.