Denirae Davis

Professor Brittany Bills

POLS 1100

Summer 2021

Reducing Single-Use Plastics

Public Policy Project

 The first fully synthetic plastic was made in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, who named his

invention Bakelite. Bakelite was unlike any other material, it could be molded into almost any

shape, it was durable, and heat resistant, the perfect match for mechanical mass production.

Plastic use really started to rise during World War II when plastics were used to make other

synthetic materials such as Nylon and Plexiglass, which were used for parachutes, ropes, and

alternative windows in aircraft and so much more. During World War II plastic use increased by

300% in the United States. But by the 1960s people started noticing plastic debris in the ocean

leading to increased environmental awareness, though little has been done to decrease our

dependency on plastic (History and Future of Plastics). Single-use plastic makes up nearly half

of all plastic use which plays a large part in environmental waste (Parker). That is why single-use

plastics should be more restricted due to increasing production leading to more plastic waste in

landfills and oceans, which is affecting not only wildlife and sealife but us as well.

Plastic production has been increasing exponentially in the last two decades. In the last

70 years we have produced about 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic with half of that being

produced since 2000. It is estimated that globally we produce 300 million tons of plastic

worldwide a year, with single-use plastic items making up half of that weight(Lindwall). While

many people think that plastic can be recycled this is not the case for all plastics. Many single-

use plastics such as grocery bags, straws, plastic utensils, and coffee cups cannot be recycled

(Sedaghat). In the United States, each citizen will use about 365 plastic grocery bags a year

which is equivalent to a bag a day for all 330 million citizens, that is a lot of plastic bags that just

end up in landfills or the ocean (Parker).

Plastics are affecting our wildlife and sealife. While plastic in its original state can cause

major problems for animals it causes just as much if not more when it breaks down into smaller
pieces called microplastics. While bigger pieces of plastic can entangle and cause animals to

starve, smaller pieces of plastic can be eaten causing other problems for wildlife such as blocking

digestive tracts or puncturing internal organs resulting in death. Pieces of plastic have been found

in the stomachs of tigers, hyenas, elephants, camels, zebras, cattle, other large mammals, as well

as hundreds of species of fish, all in all, about 700 species are known to have been affected by

plastics (Parker). Scientists estimate that by 2050 if things don’t change we will have more

plastic in our oceans than fish (Lindwall).

How are humans affected by the increasing amounts of plastic littering our planet?

Ingesting plastic is dangerous not only for wildlife but for people as well. Research has shown

that on average people ingest about 2,000 pieces of plastic a week weighing approximately 5

grams, about the same amount of plastic as a credit card. This is caused by microplastics which

can be less than 5mm in size getting into our water supply, but we don’t just get microplastics

from drinking water we also ingest plastic by eating things like shellfish that eat the plastic first,

but plastic has also been found in other food like beer and salt (Revealed: Plastic Ingestion by

People). This plastic ingestion is significant because some plastics are known to contain

chemicals that can wreak havoc on our bodies. Some chemicals are added to plastic during its

manufacturing to give the plastic certain properties, phthalate DEHP for example is used in hoses

and shower curtains to make them more flexible but phthalate DEHP is a probable carcinogen

for humans. Other chemicals added to plastics can disrupt our endocrine system, causing

hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues, and potentially cancer (Parker).

All these reasons are why we should restrict the use of single-use plastics. It is slowly

littering our planet and endangering the lives of animals and people. We need to think forward

into the future and decide what kind of world we want to leave our children. Do we want to leave
them a planet that has more trash in its oceans than fish? Or are we going to try to preserve the

planet as we know it, maybe even better, so our children or grandchildren can go to the beach

and still enjoy the warm sand and the blue sea?

Criteria

With the alarming rate of single-use plastics increasing over the last two decades there is

a need for policies that begin to curtail its rise before we hit a point of no return. There are many

different ways single-use plastics could be more regulated, but first we should define what a

successful single-use plastic restriction would look like. For the sake of this paper, I am going to

be focusing on realistic options, single-use plastics are so widespread and used for so many

different things that it would be impossible to get rid of or even decrease most of them without

major support. I want to focus on decreasing single-use plastic bags in Utah. While this could be

achieved a few different ways I think an overall successful outcome would mean a drastic

decrease in plastic bag use in Utah, be little to no cost for Utahns, and Make Utah Beautiful

Again.

Drastically reducing single-use plastic bags should be the main goal of any of the

proposed policies but we should define a “drastic” reduction. For me that would mean a 50%

decrease within the first year it is enacted with a three-year goal of 95%. While we may need

some help from local retailers to get us some more accurate numbers, studies show that on

average Americans use about one plastic bag a day (Parker). This means that just over 3 million

Utahns would use about 1.1 billion plastic bags annually. My goal would be to at least bring that

number below 500 million within the first year and 50 million three years into the policy being in

place.
 Making the policy have as little of an impact on Utahns as possible is another key goal.

While plastic bags are a part of our everyday life, evidence that on average we use about one a

day, the policy should aim to make the transition as easy and smooth as possible while costing

citizens as little as possible. While the aim of the policy is to reduce plastic bags there may be

some Utahns who are stuck in their ways and refuse to change and bring their own reusable bag

to the supermarket. The policy we choose should find ways to encourage people to bring their

own reusable bag or have some more environmentally friendly option at the store for those who

refuse to bring their own bag.

Last but not least the policy should help Make Utah Beautiful Again. I’m not sure if

you’ve noticed but we have a lot of plastic littering the sides of our streets, caught on fences and

trees, and drifting in our water, plastic bags make up quite a bit of that plastic trash. Two Utah

cities have already banned plastic bags because of this problem, Park City and Moab. Both cities

are major tourist destinations that have noticed increasing amounts of plastic trash. Both cities

passed plastic bag bans to try and reduce litter within their cities. Currently, Park City’s ban only

applies to three of their biggest stores, and both cities have had push back from the State. With

these bans being in only a couple of cities and only enforcing the ban on certain retailers it is

difficult to see how much progress these bans have made. Neither city has released a statement

regarding the effectiveness of the ban. But we can look to states like California that imposed a

plastic bag ban and found that plastic bag litter on their beaches had decreased by 66% within a

year. Plastic bags once made up 7.4% of litter found on California beaches, but numbers from

2017 suggest that since the ban plastic bags made up less than 1.5% (One Year Later).

There is no way to ban all single-use plastics but it is important that we start somewhere

because every little bit helps. While looking for solutions on how to decrease single-use plastic
bags in Utah we should remember to use the criteria listed above: decrease total plastic bag usage

by at least 50% in the first year, with little cost to Utahns, and help clean up the environment.

Policy Alternatives

As we look at policy options we should remember the criteria that we set up from the

previous section. The policy should reduce plastic bag usage by at least 50% in the first year,

with little cost to Utahns, and help clean up the environment. Based on these criteria we will

focus on the following policy options: plastic bag ban, plastic bag fee, and reusable bag credit.

The first policy option would be a ban on single-use plastic bags. There have been a total

of eight states that have banned single-use plastic bags including California, Connecticut,

Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Each of these bans looks a little

different. Some states ban only larger retailers and leave little ma and pa shops alone, and some

have exemptions for things like food takeout, and newspaper bags (Schultz). While it is clear that

an overall ban would be very effective in meeting our first criteria of decreasing single-use

plastic bags by at least 50% in the first year, and as such helping decrease the amount of plastic

bags that are floating around in the environment, the biggest concern is its impact on Utahns.

When discussing the criteria it wasn’t only monetary impact on Utahns that was the concern but

also ease of transition. A total plastic bag ban may receive a lot of pushback from citizens who

feel like they are being forced to give up their convenient life of using plastic bags.

The second policy option would be a plastic bag fee. Places like Ireland, London,

Washington D.C., and more have enacted plastic bag fees. Plastic bag fees still allow citizens to

use plastic bags, they just have to pay a price to do so. Some plastic bag fees are as little as three

cents, with the highest being 20 cents. Studies have shown that plastic bag fees can be just as
helpful as bans at decreasing the amount of single-use plastic bag usage (Effectiveness). Since

this policy can offer nearly the same decrease in plastic bags as banning them does it meets our

first criteria and offers benefits to the other two criteria that an overall ban does not. Firstly, it

allows those who still wish to use plastic bags and not change their lifestyle to do so, just at a bit

of a cost. When it comes to cleaning up the environment, not only does the fee reduce the

amount of plastic bags in the environment but some cities use the money from the fee to help

fund environmental programs.

Lastly, we could offer a reusable bag credit, meaning that if you bring your own reusable

bag the store will credit you. Maryland had tried a reusable bag credit, offering consumers a five-

cent credit for bringing their own bag to the store. The problem with this solution is that it

doesn’t really affect the amount of plastic bags that are being used, with some studies suggesting

a less than two percent decrease in use (Wessel). Since it doesn’t reduce the amount of single-use

plastic bags that are being used anywhere near 50% it doesn’t meet our first criteria. Also, since

it’s not reducing usage or bringing in a profit that could go towards the environment it isn’t

meeting that criteria either. Finally, out of all the plans proposed it could end up being more

costly to Utahns than the other plans since the state would likely have to supply the cost

difference between the cost of a single-use plastic bag and the five cents stores would be required

to offer customers with a reusable bag.

When it comes to solving the problem of decreasing single-use plastic bag usage there are

clearly many options, and within those options there is still room to customize the policy to

better fit your demographics. While looking through these options it is important to think about

our criteria and about what would work best for Utah. As far as meeting criteria go reusable bag
credits don’t seem to be the best solution for this public policy project. But the plastic bag ban

and plastic bag fee do seem to hit most of our criteria and could be viable options for the project.

Policy Recommendation

Out of the policy options laid out before us, keeping in mind the set criteria, a plastic bag

fee seems to be the best overall policy recommendation. The next step would be deciding how

much to charge per bag. As stated above places that have enacted a plastic bag fee have charged

anywhere from 3 cents to 20 cents a bag. For this project, we will assume a 15 cent fee for each

single-use plastic bag used. The hope is with this simple change we can reduce single-use plastic

bag usage, while costing Utahns almost nothing, and helping improve the environment.

While 15 cents may not seem like a lot but when you have to purchase multiple bags

every time you go to the store it starts to add up. Even spending one dollar a week on single-use

plastic bags will cost $52 by the end of the year. At that point, it would save you a lot of money

to just switch to reusable bags. In 2015 England enacted a 5 pence, about 7 cents in USD, fee for

single-use plastic bags and over the next 4 years saw a 90% decrease in single-use plastic bag

use (Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Charge). This shows how a single-use plastic bag fee is just

as effective at decreasing the amount of plastic bags as a ban might be. Our first criteria was to

lower plastic bag usage by 50% in the first year, while it is uncertain whether we can reach that

we would probably be close, and with the higher fee we should be able to achieve the same

numbers as England 4 years down the road.

When it comes to cost for Utahns implementing the policy itself doesn’t really cost

anything. The only cost to Utahns would be for reusable bags or the 15 cent fee at the store.

Reusable bags can generally be purchased for less than $2 and last a very long time so overall the
cost would be very low. The single-use plastic bags would cost 15 cents per bag and how much

that ends up costing you per year greatly depends on how many bags you use but we will use the

$52 as stated above. For a public policy, $52 a year is not a lot to spend, especially when you

have the option to not spend that money you are spending it out of convenience rather than just

bringing your own bag. For this reason, single-use plastic bag fees meet our second criteria of

having little cost to Utahns.

The 15 cent fee for plastic bags could not only help our environment by decreasing the

amount of single-use plastic bags being blown about and ending up in our trees, plants, and

waterways but by using that money to go towards environmental groups. In England when the 5

pence fee was enacted around 3.7 pence would go to charity leading to millions of dollars being

donated. In 2019 £22.9 million was donated to charity from the single-use plastic bag fee. In

Utah, we have many environmental groups that could benefit from the funds the fee would

provide. Some such groups could be The Nature Conservancy in Utah, Utah Rivers Council, or

Breathe Utah. Or the State could use that money to create more renewable energy resources such

as wind or solar power. With this, the single-use plastic bag fee completes our last criteria of

helping the environment.

Single-use plastic bags are currently endangering our environment, wildlife, and because

of that ourselves. Decreasing our use of single-use plastics is imperative for a healthy planet and

every little step counts, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Though it may seem like a small step it

makes the next step easier and so on. Placing a fee for plastic bags is an easy thing we can do to

decrease single-use plastic bag usage, and help the environment all at a low cost.
 Works Cited

“Effectiveness.” PlasticBagLaws.org, www.plasticbaglaws.org/effectiveness.

“History and Future of Plastics.” Science History Institute, 20 Nov. 2019,

www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics.

Courtney Lindwall. “Single-Use Plastics 101.” NRDC, 20 Apr. 2021,

www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101.

Parker, Laura. “Fast Facts about Plastic Pollution.” Science, National Geographic, 4 May 2021,

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/plastics-facts-infographics-ocean-pollution.

“Revealed: Plastic Ingestion by People Could Be Equating to a Credit Card a Week.” WWF,

wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?348337/Revealed-plastic-ingestion-by-people-

could-be-equating-to-a-credit-card-a-week.

Schultz, Jennifer. State Plastic Bag Legislation, www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-

natural-resources/plastic-bag-legislation.aspx.

Sedaghat, Lilly. “7 Things You Didn't Know About Plastic (and Recycling).” National

Geographic Society Newsroom, 13 Apr. 2018, blog.nationalgeographic.org/2018/04/04/7-

things-you-didnt-know-about-plastic-and-recycling/.

“Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bags Charge: Data in England for 2018 to 2019.” GOV.UK,

www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-

england/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-charge-data-in-england-for-2018-to-2019.

“One Year Later: Voter Approval of Bag Ban Results in Substantially Reduced Plastic Bag Litter

and Waste.” Californians Against Waste, Californians Against Waste, 9 Nov. 2017,

www.cawrecycles.org/recycling-news/xtj9dcga9bmh5daxn4sw4kry4zpndg.

Wessel, David. “Why a Bag Tax Works Better Than a Reusable Bag Bonus.” Brookings,
Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/opinions/why-a-bag-tax-works-better-than-

a-reusable-bag-bonus/.