Last year, roughly 12 percent of Americans weren't offered an equal choice of paper or plastic at the checkout counter, because of local ordinances that banned or imposed fees on single-use plastic bags. This week, legislators in California are trying to impose the nation's first statewide ban on such bags. The issue has aroused intense passions and expensive lobbying. Even if it passes, the California bill's impact would be more symbolic than real.
The numbers tell the story. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans tossed out 3.4 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps in 2012. Although that sounds like a lot, it's a little more than 10 percent of the 31.8 million tons of plastics thrown away, and a mere 1.3 percent of the 251 million tons of solid waste generated that year.
It's possible for a substance to be far more hazardous than its proportion in the waste stream suggests, of course. (Just ask a nuclear engineer.) Released into waterways and the wider environment, plastic bags certainly pose a hazard to wildlife, and play a role in the Pacific Ocean's floating garbage patches. Still, multiple studies suggest they're less energy-intensive to manufacture and recycle than paper.