Oregon Bans Retail Plastic Shopping Bags

[Nyvin]

how is this different than a five cent tax on bags? Calling it a ban seems overly dramatic and counterproductive.

^

From what I've read,  it's plastic bags that are thinner than 4 mils (0.004 inches) that are actually banned.   

The 5 cent tax applies to thicker plastic bags (think turkey bags) and paper bags.

[Nyvin]

Cuyahoga County OH and Charleston SC also banned plastic bags.

New York state's ban will go into effect on March 1st,  Maine's on April 22nd, and Vermont's July 1st.

[Nyvin]

...this isn't a ban. Unless literally every product that has a tax on it is banned, which means hotels and cars are banned in all states.

The non-recyclable plastic bags are banned,  the ones you commonly see at grocery stores.   The "ban" applies to plastic bags thinner than 4 mils,  a standard grocery store plastic bag is about 0.5 mils.

Paper bags are not banned, they only have a recycled content requirement and an associated tax (or fee..?) added to them.

[Nyvin]

how is this different than a five cent tax on bags? Calling it a ban seems overly dramatic and counterproductive.

^

From what I've read,  it's plastic bags that are thinner than 4 mils (0.004 inches) that are actually banned.   

The 5 cent tax applies to thicker plastic bags (think turkey bags) and paper bags.

Is a thin plastic bag worse for some reason?

They're used more in mass numbers, and also recycling machines that process plastic waste can't process them and they frequently cause jams.