As of March 1st, New York has banned the usage of plastic bags within grocery stores, food establishments, and other New York businesses. Signed in 2019 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo the law states that New York consumers will now also be charged 5cents for every paper bag they use. Since 2019 around 200 bills related to the usage of single-use plastics have been introduced in state legislatures. Single-use plastic includes products like plastic bags or carryout utensils from restaurants, made to be used once and then thrown out. Although this is not a federal law placed, 4 states including New York and California have been pushing their own legislation out. New York alone discards about 10 billion plastic bags each year in which the Department of Sanitation struggles to clean up. The immediate goal is to reduce plastics pollution in New York. This also has a affect on greenhouse gases that are emitted due to the production of plastic bags over time. While there are exceptions with these new laws, Industry groups have argued that these restrictions and added fees place a burden on consumers and businesses overall. Click here for more information.
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