China's Plastic Bag Ban May Prove Flimsy

China's proposed ban on the thinnest plastic bags could save as much as 37 million barrels of oil when implemented on June 1, as well as restrain growing Chinese consumer demand for the flimsy totes. Or it could simply be ignored, much like similar bans on items ranging from disposable wooden chopsticks to plastic packing materials, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The ban may be particularly hard to enforce because of how quickly Chinese consumers have come to rely on thin plastic bags to carry daily groceries and other purchases. And it remains unclear what penalties, if any, will apply to those who flout the ban and continue to make the flimsiest plastic bags.

Regardless, the ultimate effect of the law may simply be to replace the thinnest plastic bags with thicker ones. Perhaps recycling might prove a more flexible--even plastic--policy?

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