Colorado’s plastic bag ban was a mistake

The column on recycling, Tee Cee’s Tip, on April 15 reminded us that plastic bags will be completely banned in Colorado on June 1 per the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. It also reminded me of a study, “Replacing Plastics with Alternatives Is Worse for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Most Cases” published Jan. 30, 2024, in Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T). Taken together, they provide a good illustration of the inconsistency of the Colorado Legislature.

The ES&T study assessed 16 applications where plastics are used across five key sectors: packaging, building and construction, automotive, textiles and consumer durables. These sectors account for about 90% of the global plastic volume. The results show that in 15 of the 16 applications, a plastic product incurs fewer GHG emissions than their alternatives. It was found that for most plastic products, increasing the efficiency of plastic use, extending the lifetime, boosting recycling rates and improving waste collection is more effective than banning them in reducing emissions.

The study included a consideration of plastic grocery bags. There is a lack of reliable data about the actual reuse of alternative reusable bags. Their lack of sanitation is also a concern unless carefully washed after each use. Compostable and biodegradable alternatives account for less than 1% of the plastic market. Paper grocery bags have three times the production emissions of plastic bags due to the higher raw material usage and transportation emissions.

The GHG emissions of paper bags versus plastic widen further to five times when accounting for disposition and impact in use (such as “double bagging”). Landfilling paper bags also results in significant methane emissions from anaerobic decomposition, whereas plastics remain almost completely inert in the ground. The ban on plastic bags in Colorado was a mistake. It should be repealed now.