Latest news with #shorelines
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Science
- The Independent
Study reveals important benefit of charging for plastic bags
A new study published in the journal Science indicates that local plastic bag bans and fees are effective in reducing plastic bag litter along shorelines. The research found a 25 to 47 per cent decrease in plastic bag litter during shoreline cleanups, with the most significant impact observed along lakes. The study highlights that full bans and fees are more effective than partial bans, which often include exemptions for thicker plastic bags. Experts, including Anna Papp from MIT and environmental scientist Dr. Zoie Diana, confirm that these policies reliably lead to a decrease in plastic bag litter. Plastic bag regulations are gaining global popularity, with over 100 countries implementing them and 175 countries discussing a global plastics treaty, while in the US, 11 states and over 200 counties have adopted such measures.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Science
- The Independent
Charging for plastic shopping bags can actually lead to cleaner beaches, study shows
Plastic bag bans and fees are actually working to help decrease litter along shorelines, researchers reveal. Local laws enforcing bans or fees for plastic shopping bags are associated with a 25 to 47 percent decrease in plastic bag litter found during shoreline cleanups, according to a new study in the peer-reviewed journal Science. The researchers found a decrease in plastic bags along all bodies of water, but the evidence suggests plastic bag regulations have the largest effect along lakes. The study also shows that some plastic bag regulations are more effective than others. Full bans and fees are more effective than partial bans, likely because of exemptions for thicker plastic bags, the authors wrote. Anna Papp, one of the authors and an environmental economist and postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The New York Times the study shows plastic bag litter reliably decreases when local lawmakers implement regulations. 'This is not a once-in-time snapshot of plastic litter, but really is something that keeps happening again and again,' Papp said. Environmental scientist Dr. Zoie Diana told the Times the study shows that this decrease in plastic bag litter 'wouldn't have happened policies are working.' Plastic bag bans and fees are growing in popularity. More than 100 countries regulate the bags, and 175 countries are in talks to create the first-ever global plastics treaty, according to the study. In the U.S., at least 11 states have banned plastic bags altogether, and more than 200 counties have implemented bans or regulations. Dr. Erin Murphy, manager of Ocean Plastics Research for the Ocean Conservancy, told CNN that plastic bags are more dangerous to marine life than other types of litter. That's because they're lightweight and can be blown into the environment more easily, Murphy noted. Plastic bags can also kill animals that eat them or become entangled in them. 'They're hard to recycle, they're single-use, and they're lightweight, and so they blow very easily in the wind,' she told CNN. 'Even if we're trying to properly manage them, it's easy for them to escape waste management systems and get into the environment.'
Washington Post
20 hours ago
- Science
- Washington Post
Plastic bag fees and bans help limit coastal litter, study finds
Plastic bag fees and bans are effective in limiting debris on U.S. shorelines, a new study reports, but even places with bag policies are seeing a greater prevalence of plastic bags on beaches and riverbanks. The study, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science, analyzed the relationship between policies on plastic bags and the litter collected in more than 45,000 shoreline cleanups. In communities with policies in place, the prevalence of plastic bags in the trash was 25 percent to 47 percent lower than in places without regulations. But plastic bags increased as a share of litter both in communities with policies and those without, the researchers noted. The policies appeared to contain that growth but not stop or reverse it. Measures targeting plastic bags aren't eliminating the problem, just slowing its growth, said Kimberly Oremus, one of the study's authors and an associate professor at the University of Delaware's School of Marine Science and Policy. The impact of the policies has been somewhat limited, Oremus said, because they can be patchy in what they regulate and are themselves a patchwork, with rules and enforcement varying from place to place. 'Most of these bans and fees don't cover every type of plastic bag,' she said. 'There's a lot of exceptions to them. It really depends on the state.' The goal of all these policies is the same: to limit the use of plastic bags, which can take centuries to decompose and, in the interim, can entangle wildlife and release microplastics and toxic chemicals into waterways. Some places have imposed 'bag taxes' or fees on customers using plastic bags. Other places have experimented with bans — though they might prohibit thin plastic bags (which are most likely to blow away and become trash) while allowing thicker ones, or they might leave restaurant takeout bags unregulated. Erin Murphy, manager of ocean plastics research at Ocean Conservancy, said the new report was 'the first large-scale study to systematically assess how plastic bag policies reduce the amount of plastic bag pollution in our environment.' Murphy was not involved in the analysis, but the researchers used her nonprofit group's data from shoreline cleanups between 2016 and 2023. That data provided a way to measure litter before and after policies were enacted and do comparisons with measurements in places without any regulations. Lead author and environmental economist Anna Papp said one of the key findings was the difference between broad policies, which appeared to limit plastic litter, versus partial bans, which resulted in the smallest and least precise effects. There was also some evidence that bag fees could have a greater effect than bans. But the researchers said that fees are also much less common than bans and that more research is needed to assess their relative effectiveness. The study also found that state-level policies had a greater impact than town-level measures, Oremus said. Larger-scale policies tend to be more robust, she said, because 'litter can travel between borders.' The analysis also showed that the largest reductions in trash occurred in places with high amounts of plastic bag pollution. 'Are you a place that struggles with litter?' Oremus said. 'Then, this might be a policy to consider.' Erin Hass, senior director of strategic alliances with the Plastics Industry Association, noted that plastic bags represent a fairly small portion of litter that winds up along U.S. shorelines. 'Even the study itself acknowledges that the top sources of beach litter are cigarette butts, food wrappers, bottle caps and beverage bottles — not plastic bags,' Hass said. 'Why are regulators isolating a single product while overlooking far more prominent contributors?' Bans could 'create unintended consequences,' Hass said. She noted that after the implementation of a bag ban in New Jersey, for example, thin plastic bags disappeared, but overall plastic consumption appeared to increase because of a switch to heavier reusable bags, which tended to be tossed after minimal use. 'If the goal is reducing marine debris and advancing sustainability, the smarter approach is to invest in scalable recycling systems, not sweeping bans that shift the problem rather than solve it,' she said.
BBC News
20 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Plastic bags: Have bans and fees curbed shoreline litter?
Banning or charging for plastic bags is helping stop them ending up on US shorelines, a study of the country's litter from thousands of cleanups showed that areas which tried to reduce bag use saw them fall by at least 25% as a percentage of total litter collected, compared to areas that didn't or charging for bags worked better at state rather than town level, and had a bigger impact in places that had a bigger litter problem to begin the good news, the researchers cautioned that, overall, more plastic bags are being found across the US – they're just increasing less in those places trying to tackle the issue. Plastic bag laws in the US vary considerably by state, county and town, which made it a useful place for researchers to test the effectiveness of bag range from bans and partial bans (where only thinner bags are banned), to charges on bags and pre-emption laws, where states prevent counties and towns from regulating plastic bags researchers used data from shoreline cleanups that recorded bags as a percentage of all items collected, and looked at how this differed in areas with a policy compared to those average, bags made up 4.5% of items collected in cleanups, and were the fifth most common item found after cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps and plastic drinks models were used to analyse the data, which estimated that the relative decrease in bags in areas with a policy was between 25% and 47%. Comparing 182 policies and 45,067 cleanups from 2016 to 2023, the study's authors said it was the largest analysis of how effective such policies are in curbing shoreline litter. Plastic bags 'only part of the problem' The findings highlight the importance of policy in reducing plastic pollution, lead study author Anna Papp key policy opportunity would be the first global plastics treaty that 175 countries will continue negotiating in August, after talks collapsed in December."Stronger results in areas with a higher baseline of plastic bag litter means these policies may be especially effective in these areas," she said."It's also very important to keep in mind with the treaty, plastic bag policy addresses just one part of the problem. "More comprehensive solutions are needed to address it entirely, with a focus on the production side, consumption, and waste," she research cautions that despite the evidence policies are working to reduce the relative percentage of plastic bags on shorelines, the overall percentage of bags is still increasing in places with and without is because plastic pollution continues to grow overall, so policies can only make so much of a dent in the the UK, where charges on single-use plastic bags started to be adopted in 2011, a survey found there had been an 80% fall in the number of bags washed up on beaches over a decade. Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to keep up with the latest climate and environment stories with the BBC's Justin Rowlatt. Outside the UK? Sign up to our international newsletter here.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Governor Ivey officially signs Lulu's Law for Alabama beaches
ALABAMA (WDHN) – Governor Ivey officially signed House bill 437, which is also known as Lulu's Law. This legislation will make a shark alert system for all mobile phones and first responders for beaches and shorelines in Baldwin and Mobile counties. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will help send out these alerts. The bill is inspired by Birmingham teen Lulu Gribbin, who lost her hand and leg in a shark attack last summer. Lulu was attacked by a shark shortly after another shark attack happened nearby. The new law enforces the Mobile and Baldwin County Emergency Management Agencies to warn everyone of a shark attack by providing alerts, similar to Amber alerts, to be sent to mobile cellular devices in surrounding areas and first responders on duty. The law was introduced by Alabama senator and Enterprise native, Katie Britt. The governor was joined by Lulu and the bill sponsors to sign the legislation into law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN -
