A study published in Science Journal found that plastic bag policies, such as bans and fees, have been effective in reducing ...

One additionally promising finding was that areas with plastic bag bans also seemed to have fewer wildlife entanglement incidents compared to areas without, as reported by the citizen science data.

Plastic bags can also entangle wildlife, keeping hatchling sea turtles from reaching the ocean and shading coral reefs, all of which can lead to disease and death for marine species.

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.

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.

Single-use plastic bags are one of the most ubiquitous forms of plastic litter. They are rarely recycled and degrade quickly into microplastics that are often ingested by wildlife, leading to ...

Plastic bags can also entangle wildlife, keeping hatchling sea turtles from reaching the ocean and shading coral reefs, all of which can lead to disease and death for marine species.

Environment Nation Nation & World Banning plastic bags works to limit shoreline litter, study finds June 19, 2025 at 12:43 pm By Christina Kelso ...

The well-documented harm that plastic pollution causes wildlife – from ingestion to entanglement – is exacerbated by rampant consumption of single-use bags.

Celeste Meiffren-Swango is the state director of Environment Oregon. She joins us to share more about how this new bill is expected to actually reduce plastic waste and what she hopes people do ...

Banning bags, along with other plastic packaging, is the most commonly used remedy to rein in plastic waste. So far, 115 nations have taken that approach, but in different ways. In France, bags ...