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Discusses the impact of plastic bag fees and bans on the sale of plastic trash can liners.
What and how we eat impact our environment, and our environment impacts how and what we eat. With public concern over reducing pollution and health care costs, policymakers often turn to economic interventions to change how consumers consume (e.g., taxes, bans, and advisory campaigns). In this dissertation, I explore the effectiveness of such policies, especially when there is debate over optimal policy design. I also examine how these interventions displace consumption in unintended ways--where the reduction of one externality causes the growth of another. Finally, I consider how these policies interact with issues of equity. Environmental and health issues often disproportionately affect poorer populations, and yet sometimes the policies designed to address environmental and health issues have unattractive distributional consequences. In this dissertation, I focus on and dissect one increasingly popular policy intervention which aims to address an environmental externality by incentivizing consumers to change how they obtain food--the regulation of disposable carryout bags (DCB). The contentious debate over these policies and their design, as well as the spatial and temporal variation in their adoption across the U.S., make them a particularly rich setting to study. The three essays of my dissertation examine DCB regulations in three distinct ways: (1) are they effective tools for changing behavior, (2) do they impose non-monetary costs on consumers, and (3) do they cause unintended consequences that undermine the benefits of the policies. The first chapter in my dissertation, "Bans vs. Fees: Disposable Carryout Bag Policies and Bag Usage," examines the importance of policy design. Having lived in both Washington, DC--which implemented a plastic and paper bag fee in 2010--and in Berkeley, CA--which implemented a plastic bag ban and paper bag fee in 2013--I wanted to know whether bag bans or bag fees were more effective in changing behavior. Bag bans are command-and-control approaches to regulate behavior directly while bag fees are market-based approaches to incentivize individuals to change their own behavior. While there is growing adoption of both types of policies in the U.S., little had been done to compare outcomes under each regulation tool. To fill this gap, I designed a field experiment taking advantage a local DCB policy change in the San Francisco Bay Area. With help from a team of undergraduate researchers, I made bi-weekly visits to a set of treated and control stores during the months before and after the DCB policy change. We observed customers during checkout and recorded the number and types of bags used, whether a bagger was present, and basic customer demographic information. With these data, we use a difference-in-differences model to measure how bag bans affect customers' demand for various types of disposable and reusable bags. We then investigate how bans and fees compare by juxtaposing our analysis with a concurrent study on bag fees in the DC Metropolitan Area. We find that both policies lead to remarkably similar increases in reusable bag usage and decreases in total disposable bag usage. However, under a plastic bag ban, the eradication of plastic carryout bags is offset by a 47 percentage point increase in the use of paper carryout bags. Therefore, if the environmental costs of both plastic and paper bags are a concern to policymakers and the public, our results indicate that the policy tool matters. The second chapter, "Waiting in Line: The Hidden Time Costs of Changing Behavior," asks whether DCB policies impose non-monetary costs on consumers. Understanding the non-monetary costs consumers face has implications for social welfare evaluation and policy design; however, quantifying these costs is not always feasible. In this chapter, I am able to precisely identify and measure a hidden time cost of DCB policies. Using high-frequency scanner data from a national supermarket chain and an event study design, I quantify the effect of DCB policies on the wait and processing time of checkout services provided by supermarkets. My results show that DCB policies cause a persistent 3% increase in transaction duration. Moreover, given the capacity constrained queuing system of supermarket checkout, the 3% slowdown of individual customers compounds into an even larger congestion externality--with DCB policies leading to an average additional minute of wait and processing time per customer. The policy implications of my results are threefold. First, policies which incentivize consumers to change their habits may have large non-monetary costs, and ignoring these costs overstates the welfare gains of such policies. Second, not fully considering the institutional constraints of a policy setting can result in competing externalities. I show that when consumer behavior is connected through queuing systems, individually slower actions propagate into an even larger congestion externality. Third, the policy tool (i.e., bag bans vs. bag fees) matters with respect to the time costs. I find that policies which tax both plastic and paper bags have less persistent time costs than policies which ban plastic and tax paper, due to paper bags being a slower technology. The third chapter, "Bag Leakage: The Effect of Disposable Carryout Bag Regulations on Unregulated Bags," examines whether DCB policies have unintended consequences that undermine the benefits of the policies. In particular, do DCB policies lead to increased consumption of other types of plastic bags? In California, DCB policies prohibit retail food stores from providing customers with thin plastic carryout bags at checkout and require stores to charge a minimum fee for paper carryout bags. However, all remaining types of disposable bags are unregulated (e.g., garbage bags, food storage bags, paper lunch sacks). Using quasi-random variation in local government DCB policy adoption in California from 2008-2015, I employ an event study design to quantify the effect of bag regulations on the consumption of plastic and paper carryout bags, as well as the consumption of other disposable bags sold. This article brings together two data sources: (i) weekly retail scanner data with product-level price and quantity information from 201 food stores in California, and (ii) observational data collected at checkout in seven Californian supermarkets. The main results show that a 40 million pound reduction of plastic from the elimination of plastic carryout bags is offset by an additional 16 million pounds of plastic from increased purchases of garbage bags (i.e., sales of small, medium, and tall garbage bags increase by 67%, 50%, and 5%, respectively). This plastic bag "leakage" is an unintended consequence of DCB policies that offsets the benefit of reduced plastic carryout bag use. Additionally, DCB policies lead to a 69 million pound increase in paper carryout bags used annually. Altogether, I show that DCB policies are shifting consumers towards fewer but heavier bags. This chapter concludes by discussing the environmental implications of policy-induced changes in the composition of plastic and paper bags, with respect to carbon footprint, landfilling, and marine pollution.
The purpose of the survey was to determine the effects of the ban on sales and employment at the stores affected by the ban. [...] However, 67 percent of the land in Los Angeles County is in unincorporated areas, and 10 percent of the county's population (one million people) live in those areas.3 Compared to the four-to-five- month period before the ban took effect, none of the stores in incorporated areas of Los Angeles County reported employment losses following the ban. [...] Environmental Effects of Plastic and Reusable Bags The main reason policymakers give for banning thin-film plastic bags is the impact of the bags on the environment. [...] According to the EPA, almost 12 percent of plastic bags were recycled in 2010.24 The number of bags recycled can substantially change the economic and environmental costs of the bags. [...] A major NCPA study, "Wealth, Inheritance and the Estate Tax," completely undermines the claim by proponents of the estate tax that it prevents the concentration of wealth in the hands of financial dynasties.
Leakage occurs when partial regulation of consumer products results in increased consumption of these products in unregulated domains. This article quantifies plastic leakage from the banning of plastic carryout bags. Using quasi-random policy variation in California, I find the elimination of 40 million pounds of plastic carryout bags is offset by a 12 million pound increase in trash bag purchases--with small, medium, and tall trash bag sales increasing by 120%, 64%, and 6%, respectively. The results further reveal 12-22% of plastic carryout bags were reused as trash bags pre-regulation and show bag bans shift consumers towards fewer but heavier bags. With a substantial proportion of carryout bags already reused in a way that avoided the manufacture and purchase of another plastic bag, policy evaluations that ignore leakage effects overstate the regulation's welfare gains.
Plastics show up in every area of our lives. They are durable, cheap and light, properties that make them attractive but also problematic for the environment. The focus of this book is not just to highlight the problem of plastics, its definition, and how plastic pollution is impacting human health and environment but also to look at some best practices in both nature based solutions and in the field of law and policies. The first section of the book focuses on plastic pollution – it’s origin, relationship to climate change, linear/circular economy, followed by sustainable plastics, scientific solutions, and how policies can address plastic pollution. This includes looking at better designs, more sustainable feedstocks, and partnerships between various stakeholders worldwide including USA, China, Canada, South Korea, Thailand. This book will interest those who are associated with the production industry, packaging industry, and waste management industry as well as, academicians, students and policymakers.
Regulation of goods associated with negative environmental externalities may decrease consumption of the targeted product, but may be ineffective at reducing the externality itself if close substitutes are left unregulated. We find evidence that plastic bag bans, the most common disposable bag regulation in the US, led retailers to circumvent the regulation by providing free thicker plastic bags which are not covered by the ban. In contrast, a regulation change that replaced the ban with a small tax on all disposable bags generated large decreases in disposable bag use and overall environmental costs. Our results suggest that narrowly-defined regulations (like plastic bag bans) may be less effective than policies that target a more comprehensive set of products, even in the case when the policy instrument itself (a tax rather than a ban) is not as strict.
“This eloquent, elegant book thoughtfully plumbs the . . . consequences of our dependence on plastics” (The Boston Globe, A Best Nonfiction Book of 2011). From pacemakers to disposable bags, plastic built the modern world. But a century into our love affair, we’re starting to realize it’s not such a healthy relationship. As journalist Susan Freinkel points out in this eye-opening book, we’re at a crisis point. Plastics draw on dwindling fossil fuels, leach harmful chemicals, litter landscapes, and destroy marine life. We’re drowning in the stuff, and we need to start making some hard choices. Freinkel tells her story through eight familiar plastic objects: a comb, a chair, a Frisbee, an IV bag, a disposable lighter, a grocery bag, a soda bottle, and a credit card. With a blend of lively anecdotes and analysis, she sifts through scientific studies and economic data, reporting from China and across the United States to assess the real impact of plastic on our lives. Her conclusion is severe, but not without hope. Plastic points the way toward a new creative partnership with the material we love, hate, and can’t seem to live without. “When you write about something so ubiquitous as plastic, you must be prepared to write in several modes, and Freinkel rises to this task. . . . She manages to render the most dull chemical reaction into vigorous, breathless sentences.” —SF Gate “Freinkel’s smart, well-written analysis of this love-hate relationship is likely to make plastic lovers take pause, plastic haters reluctantly realize its value, and all of us understand the importance of individual action, political will, and technological innovation in weaning us off our addiction to synthetics.” —Publishers Weekly “A compulsively interesting story. Buy it (with cash).” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature “What a great read—rigorous, smart, inspiring, and as seductive as plastic itself.” —Karim Rashid, designer
"Initiate A Plastic Bag Ban" is an environmental guidebook for starting a plastic bag ban in your hometown. Easy to read, the book chapters include: "Problems with Plastic Bags," "Elements of an Ordinance," "Getting City Hall's Attention," and "Resources" that will help in your campaign. Initiate A Plastic Bag Ban is written by Ted Duboise, Publisher of Plastic Bag Ban Report. Duboise has been monitoring and tracking plastic bag bans across the U.S. and around the globe for over four years. In writing the book, Duboise draws from his vast knowledge of plastic bag ordinances and plastic pollution to lay out a solid, workable plan of action. He brings you the stories of grassroots efforts by people in several jurisdictions who have been successful in getting City Councils to adopt plastic bag regulations. He gives examples of what worked for them. Duboise also included a "Resource" guide which refers to successful ordinances, ways to get your campaign noticed, government sources of data, and a sample petition to be used in a plastic bag ban campaign. "So many people across the nation have asked for this material," stated Duboise. The book will fulfill those request. Plastic bag bans and disposable bag bans have exploded across the world. More and more people are taking notice of the extreme amount of plastic pollution in our oceans. They seek ways to reduce our impact on the environment. The sheer volume of plastic bags used today is staggering. In fact, over 90 billion plastic bags are unaccounted for in the U.S. Are they in our oceans?
“If you’ve ever been perplexed by the byzantine rules of recycling, you’re not alone…you’ll want to read Can I Recycle This?... An extensive look at what you can and cannot chuck into your blue bin.” —The Washington Post The first illustrated guidebook that answers the age-old question: Can I Recycle This? Since the dawn of the recycling system, men and women the world over have stood by their bins, holding an everyday object, wondering, "can I recycle this?" This simple question reaches into our concern for the environment, the care we take to keep our homes and our communities clean, and how we interact with our local government. Recycling rules seem to differ in every municipality, with exceptions and caveats at every turn, leaving the average American scratching her head at the simple act of throwing something away. Taking readers on a quick but informative tour of how recycling actually works (setting aside the propaganda we were all taught as kids), Can I Recycle This gives straightforward answers to whether dozens of common household objects can or cannot be recycled, as well as the information you need to make that decision for anything else you encounter. Jennie Romer has been working for years to help cities and states across America better deal with the waste we produce, helping draft meaningful legislation to help communities better process their waste and produce less of it in the first place. She has distilled her years of experience into this non-judgmental, easy-to-use guide that will change the way you think about what you throw away and how you do it.