U.S. regulations and fees on plastic bags seem to be making a difference when it comes to significantly reducing shoreline litter, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal "Science." Anna Papp, the study's lead author, joins CBS News to break down the findings.

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A new study published in the journal Science has found that U.S. regulations and fees on plastic bags have resulted in a significant reduction in shoreline litter. Researchers analyzed data from over 45,000 shoreline cleanups conducted between 2017 and 2023 and observed that areas with state and local plastic bag policies saw 25 to 47% fewer bags collected compared to areas without such regulations.

The study determined that complete bans, fees, and taxes on plastic bags were more effective than partial bans. However, while these policies have slowed the accumulation of plastic bags in the environment, they have not eliminated the problem entirely, nor do they affect other types of plastic waste. The findings suggest that broader, more comprehensive policies may be needed to address the wider issue of plastic pollution.

Plastic bag regulations have led to decrease in shoreline litter

Some good news here, US regulations and fees on plastic bags do seem to be making a difference when it comes to significantly reducing shoreline litter. In a new study published Thursday in the Journal of Science, researchers collected data from more than 45,000 shoreline cleanups between 2017 and 2023. They found areas with state and local plastic bag policies saw 25 to 47% fewer bags collected during those cleanups. That's a big number compared to areas with no regulations. Anna Popp joins us now. She is the lead author of that study and an incoming postdoctoral scholar at MIT. Anna, thank you very much for being with us. I find this to be fascinating because I always end up, I forgot plastic bags to begin with, but now I'm very good at bringing my own bag when I go to the store. But in this research, you found that roughly one third of Americans do live in an area with some type of plastic bag policy. What type of regulations did you find to be the most effective at actually reducing this marine waste? Yes, that's a great question. So we found that it's complete bans and fees and taxes that are most effective. These are more effective than partial bans. Partial bans are those that allow for thicker plastic bags and only ban the sort of very thin plastic bags. And it's interesting, actually, it seems that policymakers are becoming aware of this and the more recent policies have been these complete bans and fees and taxes that we've seen. We've also found that these policies are especially effective in reducing plastic bag litter in areas with high baseline levels of plastic bag litter already. Okay, that makes sense. You know, although this seems like promising news, as we had mentioned, that you see these areas with plastic bag policies seeing this reduction overall, though the amount of plastic bag waste, it is still growing in the United States. So how is that the case and what can be done to counteract that? Exactly. So it's very important to note that what we find is a relative decrease. So what we find is that these policies slow down the amount of plastic bags in the environment and they don't completely eliminate it. And we also find that these policies only impact plastic bags, perhaps intuitively, and not other plastic items like straws or bottles or containers. And so that really, both of these findings really speak to the fact that these policies are effective, but that they're effective in their concrete, narrow goal. And so if you want to think about the plastic pollution crisis more generally, it's likely that more comprehensive policies that address the entire life cycle of plastics. You know what I thought was interesting, though, that you saw such a huge reduction, 25 to 47 percent fewer bags collected during these cleanups. How does reducing plastic bag waste impact the environment like this? Yeah, and that's important because that's the motivation for a lot of these bans and fees are the potential outsized impacts on marine and other animals. Plastic bags can fly away and they can end up in the oceans and move in very particular ways. For example, sea turtles mistake them for jellyfish, one of their favorite snacks often. And so they can have a big impact. And we do find some evidence, although it's only suggestive, that these policies do help reduce entanglement of various animals in them. Yeah, it's good to see it move in the right direction with all this. I know I bring my my reusable bag everywhere I go now. Anna, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you so much.

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