Plastic bags were hailed as one of the marvelous inventions of the 20^th century. Although the product was primarily invented in 1907 by Leo Baekelan, its widespread use occurred post World War II. Baekelan and other early inventors created plastic in small batches and the industrial production of polythene was in 1933 when a chemical plant in Northwich, England created it by accident. It was secretly used by the British military during World War 2. A Swedish company called Celloplast patented the polyethylene bag in 1965 by engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin.

It became even more popular in the 1970s in Europe and by 1980s most countries in the world had switched from the use of paper to plastic. By the mid-1990s, countries were appreciating the adverse environmental impacts of plastics. For instance, in 1997, a researcher discovered and reported the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that demonstrated how plastic was killing sea turtles as they mistook them for Jellyfish.

With the UN estimating that approximately 5 trillion bags of plastic are produced per year, plastics are often described as the number one consumer product in the world. But the plastic shopping bags are now emerging as one of the worlds’ most banned products because of their adverse environmental impacts. As of July 2018, the United Nations estimated that 127 nations have either implemented some sort of ban or tax for the bags. The bans are so widespread that even the terrorist group Al Qaeda joined in the banning. Strange world!

The European Union took steps to ban the bags as an effort to clean up the European beaches. The European Union targets that by 2025, plastic bottles should be made of recycled content and by 2029, 90% should be recycled.  In the United States, New York followed the steps took by California to ban the bags. Other states have mandatory recycling or reuse programs while at least 10 states have placed preemptive bans.  Reusethisbag presents a list of countries that have implemented some sort of restrictions