According to a United Nations paper and media reports analyzed by Statista, 91 countries and territories in the world have passed some sort of full or partial ban on plastic bags. While plastic bag bans are especially popular in Africa, a majority of the 26 countries and territories which have opted instead to charge a fee (or tax) to limit plastic bag use are located in Europe. Their number has been decreasing, however, as more and more countries on the continent are coming around to bans, for example of smaller and thinner bags, which are more likely to end up in the environment and are less likely to be reused.
Developing countries have been more likely to outright ban certain types of plastic bags since they are dealing with the mismanagement of plastic waste more. Africa has spearheaded plastic bag bans since it lacks a strong lobby of plastic producers.
Notable exceptions to the trend are France, Italy and—from 2022 onward—Germany, which have banned certain types of thin plastic bags and require them to be replaced with compostable ones—a very popular type of plastic bag ban around the world. While in 2021 and 2022, bans on single-use plastic items including plastic stirrers, straws, plates and cutlery came into effect in the EU, the directive did not include bans of polymer bags. Some member states have independently banned plastic bags, mostly the lightweight variety (of thicknesses between 15 and 50 micrometers). A new EU law passed in March that will be implemented later on in European states is now targeting very thin bags under 15 micrometers thick which are often used for loose fruit and vegetables, while also banning the use of mini toiletries, condiment pouches and suitcase shrink-wrap, among others.
While the severity of plastic bag bans and the quality of implementation varies from country to country, only some places have outright banned all non-compostable plastic bags. Many countries exempt sturdier, easier-to-reuse plastic bags from their bans while simultaneously requiring customers to pay a fee for those bags. Other restrictions that can be part of bans are limits on the production or import of plastic bags or various forms of taxation.
U.S. lagging behind
China outlawed thin plastic bags in 2008 and at the same time started to enforce a fee for sturdier bags. It then banned all non-compostable bags in major cities at the end of 2020 and in the entire country in 2022. Markets are still exempt and will follow suit in 2025. After scrapping a first proposed ban during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, India in 2022 banned an array of single-use plastic items, including some flimsier bags.
The U.S. still lacks a country-wide ban or fee for plastic bags, even though these laws have been implemented in some states including California, Oregon, Washington, New York and Colorado. Additionally, hundreds of towns and cities across all parts of the country have banned plastic bags in recent years—often coupling the ban with the introduction of a fee for receiving a paper bag. In Australia, all states have now implemented some sort of plastic bag ban.
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Charted by Statista
