IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v12y2022i2d10.1007_s13412-021-00736-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Plastic bag legislation in the United States: influential factors on its creation

Author

Listed:
  • Liza Bell

    (Environmental Defense Fund)

  • Gina Scutelnicu Todoran

    (Pace University)

Abstract

In trying to address plastic bag pollution, governments around the world have recently adopted legislation that bans or discourages the use of single-use plastic bags. This study examines the variation in types of plastic bag legislation, and the extent to which geographic, socio-economic and political factors contribute to the adoption of single-use plastic bag legislation in the US. Using National Conference of State Legislatures, US Census, and plastic industry data, the study describes how plastic bag legislation varies among states, and identifies key factors that explain why states adopt plastic bag legislation. Findings indicate that plastic bag legislation varies by geography and political control of state legislatures. Additionally, results indicate that states in which local legislation has been adopted are more likely to adopt state-wide legislation. Finally, this study finds that shoreline mileage, green state index, and presence of state preemption laws to be strong predictors of plastic bag legislation adoption. Through its findings, the study informs policy makers about possible avenues that lead to the adoption of plastic bag legislation and discusses implications about implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Liza Bell & Gina Scutelnicu Todoran, 2022. "Plastic bag legislation in the United States: influential factors on its creation," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(2), pages 260-271, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:12:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s13412-021-00736-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-021-00736-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13412-021-00736-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-021-00736-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. He, Haoran, 2012. "Effects of environmental policy on consumption: lessons from the Chinese plastic bag regulation," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(4), pages 407-431, August.
    2. Johane Dikgang & Anthony Leiman & Martine Visser, 2012. "Elasticity of demand, price and time: lessons from South Africa's plastic-bag levy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(26), pages 3339-3342, September.
    3. Doris Knoblauch & Linda Mederake & Ulf Stein, 2018. "Developing Countries in the Lead—What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Rachel Tiller & Elizabeth Nyman, 2018. "Ocean plastics and the BBNJ treaty—is plastic frightening enough to insert itself into the BBNJ treaty, or do we need to wait for a treaty of its own?," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 411-415, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cabrera, José María & Caffera, Marcelo & Cid, Alejandro, 2020. "Small Incentives May Have Large Effects: The Impact of Prices on the Demand for Plastic Bags," MPRA Paper 100178, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Goshu Desalegn & Anita Tangl, 2022. "Banning Vs Taxing, Reviewing the Potential Opportunities and Challenges of Plastic Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Cabrera, José María & Caffera, Marcelo & Cid, Alejandro, 2021. "Modest and incomplete incentives may work: Pricing plastic bags in Uruguay," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    4. Thi Thanh Thuy Phan & Van Viet Nguyen & Hong Thi Thu Nguyen & Chun-Hung Lee, 2022. "Integrating Citizens’ Importance-Performance Aspects into Sustainable Plastic Waste Management in Danang, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Jingze Jiang, 2016. "Peer Pressure in Voluntary Environmental Programs: a Case of the Bag Rewards Program," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 155-190, June.
    6. Bairong Wang & Yuhua Zhao & Yong Li, 2021. "How Do Tougher Plastics Ban Policies Modify People’s Usage of Plastic Bags? A Case Study in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-8, October.
    7. Okto Irianto & Kosuke Mizuno & Safri Burhanuddin & Ninasapti Triaswati, 2022. "Formulating an Excise Duty on Plastic: A Strategy to Manage Marine Plastic Waste in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Rebecca L. C. Taylor, 2020. "A Mixed Bag: The Hidden Time Costs of Regulating Consumer Behavior," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(2), pages 345-378.
    9. Pritish Behuria, 2019. "The comparative political economy of plastic bag bans in East Africa: why implementation has varied in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 372019, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    10. Ms. Thornton Matheson, 2019. "Disposal is Not Free: Fiscal Instruments to Internalize the Environmental Costs of Solid Waste," IMF Working Papers 2019/283, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Yong Li & Bairong Wang, 2021. "Go Green and Recycle: Analyzing the Usage of Plastic Bags for Shopping in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-10, November.
    12. Liujie Xu & Yuan Zhong & Xi He & Xiong Shi & Qingbin Song, 2022. "Perception and Behavioural Changes of Residents and Enterprises under the Plastic Bag Restricting Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    13. Van Asselt, Joanna & Nian, Yefan & Soh, Moonwon & Morgan, Stephen & Gao, Zhifeng, 2022. "Do plastic warning labels reduce consumers' willingness to pay for plastic egg packaging? – Evidence from a choice experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    14. Chen Liu & Chang Liu, 2023. "Exploring Plastic-Management Policy in China: Status, Challenges and Policy Insights," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, June.
    15. Hannes Hansen-Magnusson, 2022. "Making Polar and Ocean Governance Future-Proof," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 60-69.
    16. Yong Li & Bairong Wang & Yunyu Li, 2023. "The Influence of the Big Five Personality Traits on Residents’ Plastic Reduction Attitudes in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-12, May.
    17. Rebecca L. Taylor & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2016. "Bans vs. Fees: Disposable Carryout Bag Policies and Bag Usage," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 351-372.
    18. Goshu Desalegn & Anita Tangl, 2022. "Developing Countries in the Lead: A Bibliometric Approach to Green Finance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    19. Thornton Matheson, 2022. "Disposal is not free: fiscal instruments to internalize the environmental costs of solid waste," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(4), pages 1047-1073, August.
    20. Rebecca L. C. Taylor, 2022. "It's in the bag? The effect of plastic carryout bag bans on where and what people purchase to eat," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(5), pages 1563-1584, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:12:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s13412-021-00736-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.