It is estimated that New York uses 23 billion plastic bags every year with 50 percent of those plastic bags ending up in landfills and around the city and waterways. The new law comes after Governor Cuomo implemented the New York State Plastic Bag Task Force in March of 2017. "Throughout New York State, plastic bags have become a ubiquitous sight on the landscape. The plastic bag ban will not only reduce plastic bags in New York landfills and waterways, but it will also eliminate an estimated 12 million barrels of oil used to make plastic bags used by New York each year. In 2014 it is estimated that the United States used 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags with the average American family using 1,500 single-use plastic bags each year.

Source: Forbes April 23, 2019 15:45 UTC