Why It Matters

• Over 5 trillion plastic bags are used globally each year - that's nearly 10 million bags per minute.
• Americans use over 100 billion single-use plastic bags annually.
• Usage varies dramatically by country:
  • Eastern Europe: Over 400 bags per person annually.
  • Denmark & Finland: Just 4 bags per person  per year.
  • United States: Over 300 bags per person annually.
• In the U.S. alone, 30 billion plastic bags are consumed  annually, requiring 12 million barrels of oil for production.
• Single-use plastic shopping ba

• Roughly 380 billion plastic bags are discarded each year, equating to about 1 million bags per minute.
• The U.S. produces approximately 4.2 million tons of plastic bags annually; only around 420,000 tons were recycled - translating to a 10% recycle rate.

For Governments:

• Cleanup Costs: Cities spend millions annually on litter removal, storm drain maintenance, and landfill management due to plastic bags.
• Tourism Impact: Coastal plastic pollution harms tourism, leading to economic losses.

For Retailers:

• In places like Washington, D.C., businesses keep a portion of plastic bag fees (e.g. 1-2 cents per bag) to offset compliance costs.
• In Chicago, a $0.10 bag tax allocates $0.08 to the city and $0.02 to retailers.

Revenue Use:

• Funds from bag fees are often 

• Costs of plastic pollution for developing and industrialized nations total up to $1.3 billion annually.
• Litter cleanup costs in the U.S. exceed $11.5 billion per year, with business shouldering around $9.1 billion of this burden.

• Producting plastic bags uses 8% of global petroleum resources, translating to 12 million barrels of oil daily.

• Plastic bags can take anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years to breakdown or decompose.
• They fragment into toxic microplastics, polluting soil and waterways, clogging storm drains, causing flooding, and degrading landscapes.

• The largest concentration of marine plastic debris can span an area twice the size of Texas, with bags outnumbering sea life up to 6 to 1.
• Bags often mimic jellyfish, leading marine creatures like turtles, whales and seabirds to ingest them.