I don't see it as a "problem" or a particular issue... but it is interesting how this has unintended consequences.
I mean, 98.2% of all people are lazy. So the more municipalities push customers towards reusable bags (either through taxes or bans) the more people will use re-usable bags. These are people who would likely not think to wash them (I've never washed a reusable bag, and I've carried my deli food, which I eat directly without heating), which means we will increase the spread of any diseases or fungus associated with food-stuffs.
I've always personally preferred just using plastic bags and then recycling them as trash-bags. That makes them essentially a zero impact, since you don't buy the trash bags for use. But oh well...
victor809 wrote:
The "problem" I see is a government mandated ban.
Misinformation, lies and half-truths all too often have significant impact in the long term.
Back around 1989 there was a company called Plastics Again. They built a business model on recycling polystyrene waste from fast food joints. This included the foamed cups, foamed containers, lids, utensils, straws, virtually everything that wasn't a paper napkin or foiled ketchup packet.
They started putting special trash bins in the local McDonalds.
Then McDonalds corporate decided to cave in to the Green movement for PR reasons. I say for PR reasons, because even the CEO of McDonalds at the time went on recorded admitting it wasn't a decision based on environmental impact. Just PR.
If you're a share holder in McDonalds, that was a good thing.
If you understand capitalism, then you know in order to grow a business you need to make money. With McDonalds pulling out of the PS Recycling waste stream, those backing Plastics Again realized it was only a matter of time before other fast food joints did as well.
So it closed shop.
Life is full of what-ifs, but as a senior studying plastics engineering, this company had a great opportunity because their model eliminated the most difficult part of post consumer recycling: the sorting.
All the collected trash was a form of polystyrene. It simply needed to be cleaned and reprocessed.
This wasn't a failure of government intervention like the plastic bag bans. But it shows how public perception can shape policies, rather than letting the facts speak for themselves.
rant off
