(TheRedAlertNews.com) – In a new tragic example of leftist climate policies doing a lot more harm than good, the state of New Jersey’s ban on plastic bags seems to have backfired spectacularly by actually boosting tremendously the consumption of the substances and materials sought to be forbidden.
According to a report by The Daily Wire, New Jersey’s prohibition on plastic bags has proven to be not only a nuisance for the public but also detrimental to the environment.
In 2020, New Jersey enacted a statute forbidding the use of single-use plastic and paper bags in all retail and food service establishments. This legislation became effective in May 2022.
However, since the implementation of this ban, there has been an unexpected increase in the state’s use of plastic for bags.
A study conducted by Freedonia Custom Research, commissioned by the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, indicates that plastic consumption for bags has tripled.
Although the overall quantity of plastic bags decreased by 60%, dropping to 894 million, the issue lies in the fact that the alternatives utilized have a significantly larger carbon footprint.
Most stores in New Jersey transitioned to offering reusable shopping bags, typically found in supermarkets and composed of non-woven polypropylene.
These bags contain over 15 times more plastic than their predecessors and are seldom recycled.
Consequently, the emission of greenhouse gases has escalated by 500% in comparison to the figures from 2015, as per the report.
Furthermore, these new reusable bags are not utilized as frequently as anticipated. On average, they are discarded after being used only two or three times.
This situation is worsened by the growing popularity of grocery pickup and delivery services, which often necessitate new bags for each order. The ban, therefore, did not achieve its intended objective.
“The outcome of the ban, revealed by market research, interviews, and comprehensive studies, unveils a complicated landscape as bag purchasing behavior continues to evolve,” the report explains.
When Governor Phil Murphy (D) enacted the bag ban bill in November 2020, he praised it as a “solution” to climate change.
In addition to plastic bags, New Jersey’s ban also includes Styrofoam products such as cups, plates, takeout containers, and other food packaging. Similar bans on plastic grocery bags are in place in at least 11 other states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
