The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Need a bag? A review of public policies on plastic carrier bags – Where, how and to what effect?
Open accessAbstract
The plastic carrier bag epitomises many of the features that have transformed plastics into a material that defines our contemporary modern culture. The versatility, durability, strength and low cost have made it into an indispensable companion for consumers. In parallel with plastic becoming an increasingly contested material, the plastic carrier bag has emerged as a controversial object in many jurisdictions. This paper explores where, how and to what extent public authorities in different cases across the globe regulate plastic carrier bags. The number of public policies on plastic carrier bags has more than tripled since 2010, and they are now found on all continents, ranging from the municipal to the intergovernmental level. They mainly come in the form of either bans or levies, with the former being predominant. There have been many examples of policies leading to reduced consumption of plastic carrier bags, however this paper also identifies key challenges, including resistance towards plastic carrier bag regulations, uncertainty in measuring the effects, and the undesired side-effects. Far from being a simple issue, public policies on plastic carrier bags highlight the complexity of governing plastics.
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Citations
Cites
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Cited by
Nižetić, S., Djilali, N., Papadopoulos, A., & Rodrigues, J. J. P. C. (2019) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.397 · Cited by 538
Politics and the plastic crisis: A review throughout the plastic life cycle
Nielsen, T. D., Hasselbalch, J., Holmberg, K., & Stripple, J. (2020) · WIREs Energy and Environment · doi:10.1002/wene.360 · Cited by 499
Self-citationLiu, T.-K., Chang, H., & Chen, Y.-S. (2023) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115456 · Cited by 24
Revising the effectiveness of municipal waste management in Hong Kong
Ma, F. C., Wong, T. L., Chan, C. N., & Ran, L. (2023) · Frontiers in Environmental Science · doi:10.3389/fenvs.2023.1178363 · Cited by 8
Chiu, H.-L., Wang, K.-J., & Wang, T.-H. (2025) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0320059 · Cited by 2
“Despite extensive government efforts to limit plastic usage through policies and regulations [3,6,7], the amount of plastic waste is expected to continue growing, exacerbating these risks [8].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Nielsen, T. D., Holmberg, K., & Stripple, J.
- Venue
- Waste Management
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 87
- Pages
- 428-440
- ISSN
- 0956-053X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2916013437
- Cited by
- 283
- References
- 34
- FWCI
- 8.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
