The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, managed by聽Closed Loop Partners鈥� Center for the Circular Economy, released a new in-depth analysis of single-use bag legislation in the U.S., setting a new standard in environmental policy research. The comprehensive policy white paper,聽鈥淟egislation in Action: Measuring the Impact of U.S. Single-Use Bag Policies on Waste Reduction,鈥漞valuates the efficacy and impact of various legislative mechanisms, including a comparison of bag fees and outright bans across diverse communities, revealing how different strategies influence bag waste reduction and consumer behavior.
Amidst increasing bag policy implementation across U.S. states, the white paper also reveals never-before-seen primary research into New Jersey鈥檚 pioneering legislation, the Get Past Plastic Act, which eliminated both single-use plastic and paper bags in grocery and big box stores. The rigorous analysis offers elected officials, regulators, community leaders and community stakeholders an objective summary of legislation鈥檚 impacts and potential unintended consequences on a community, enabling officials to effectively tailor legislation to their constituents and desired outcomes.
A key finding of the Consortium鈥檚 analysis on single-use bag legislation notes that while policy can be one of the most effective tools to reduce single-use bag waste, consumers must also be supported in adopting waste-free behavior. The Consortium鈥檚聽2023 in-market activations聽in Denver and Tucson, which tested consumer-facing bag reduction solutions in 375 stores across 160 different retailers, resulted in a 4.8% decrease in single-use bags across the two markets and an 11.7% reduction in Denver, where there was legislation. Overall, the city-wide activations resulted in up to 9.5 million single-use bags reduced annually across the two markets.
Building on these in-market findings and its in-depth policy analysis, the Consortium will launch a new consumer campaign this summer, encouraging consumers to bring their own reusable bags or choose not to take a single-use bag at all. Details of the campaign will be released in the next month.
鈥淧olicy is a major driver of the transition to the circular economy. While there is no single solution to reduce single-use bag waste, our rigorous analysis of legislation and in-depth understanding of consumer norm setting can provide communities with the tactical resources they need for a waste-free future,鈥� said Kate Daly, Managing Partner and Head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. 鈥淲e look forward to sharing more insights on policy and the circular economy and activating in-market work alongside our partners to turn waste reduction practices into everyday habits.鈥�