世上有哪些实施禁塑的国家呢(一)

本篇是截至Reuse This Bag 这个部落格的文章，图片来源：Aldo Delara, Unsplash

最近台湾开始推动限塑，包含像是店家不主动提供塑胶袋、禁用塑胶吸管等等。在前段时间各大电视媒体讨论得沸沸扬扬，那么让我们把眼界放宽一些，去看看现在到底全球禁塑的情况为何

The average plastic bag you pick up at the grocery store, or carry your takeout in, has a lifespan of about 12 minutes. When discarded, they clog sewage and storm drains, entangle and kill an estimated 100,000 marine mammals every year, and degenerate into toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years.

整个塑胶袋的使用周期，如果以超商购物为例：超商店员给您或是外带时收到的开始，一直到丢弃为止，平均大约只有12分钟左右而已。当人们弃置这些塑胶袋后，就会进到像是排水道里造成整个排水道的阻塞，而且每年就因为这样看似小小的举动，大约就会杀死多达10万只的水生哺乳类动物。甚至会变成有毒的塑胶微粒，进而造成海洋的污染，或是会囤积在垃圾掩埋场多达千年之久。

当人们弃置塑胶袋后，会造成海洋生态的破坏，图片来源：Josh Spires, Unsplash

Shoppers collectively use around 500 billion single-use plastic bags every year. That’s 150 bags per person, per year, for every single person on Earth — or enough to circle the globe 4,200 times.

全世界每年塑胶袋的用量大约有5000亿个。也就是说，每个人每年大约会使用近150个，或者说这些塑胶袋足以围绕地球近4200圈呢。

每年全球使用的塑胶袋足以围绕地球4200圈之多，图片来源：Simon Migaj, Unsplash

Notably, we’re starting to see communities around the U.S., and the world, mobilize to reduce waste by banning, taxing, or otherwise limiting the use of these plastic bags. How common are these "plastic bag bans" and is there any data about how effective they are?

还好，现在我们有看到有些地区有利用像是罚款、缴环保税金等方式来限塑或是禁塑。不过到底这些方法的效果为何呢？

有些地区会透过缴纳税金、罚款等方式来限制民众使用塑胶袋，图片来源：rawpixel, Unsplash

We analyzed data from Priceonomics customer Reuse This Bag, a company sells reusable bags, to take a big-picture look at where legislation has been passed, and what its effects have been. Which cities in the US are leading the way for plastic bag bans? Internationally, which countries have made the most significant push?

为了要满足我们(或是大家)的好奇心，于是我们就透过"复袋环保"(Reuse This Bag)，这个环保袋公司所提供的相关统计资料，来对上述相关的限塑政策的效果来做分析。那么在美国，到底有哪些城市在这方面表现得很好；又或者放眼全球，到底有哪个国家在推动限塑政策上做得最好的呢？

到底哪个地区在推动限塑政策上做得最好呢？图片来源：Keyur Hardas, Unsplash

Summary of key takeaways: 重点精华

1. In the U.S., only 2 states (CA and HI) have banned plastic bags on a statewide level

全美只有两个州(加州及夏威夷州)是有全面推行禁止使用塑胶袋的政策

2. 4 U.S. states (DE, ME, RI, NY) have mandatory recycling or reuse programs in place

全美有四个州(德拉瓦州、缅因州、罗德岛州、纽约州)是有真的在推动回收或是重复使用塑料的相关计划

3. 10 U.S. states (AZ, FL, IA, ID, IN, MI, MN, MO, MS, WI) have places preemptive bans on banning plastic bags

全美有十个州有积极在推动限塑的政策

4. ~200 U.S. municipalities have banned or taxed plastic bags; outcomes have been largely positive, including:

全美大约有两百个城市有对于民众使用塑胶袋的行为进行征税或是取缔，而这样的结果通常是明显有效的，例如：

San Jose, CA: Reduction of plastic bags in storm drains (89%), rivers (60%), and residential areas (59%); average # of bags per person reduced from 3 to 0.3.

圣荷西, 加州：在下水道、河流以及住宅区所发现的塑胶袋有明显地减少，分别为89%、60%以及59%，而每人平均的塑胶袋用量从原本的3个降至0.3个

San Francisco, CA: Savings of up to $600k per year in plastic processing fees.

旧金山, 加州：每年省下大约60万美金的塑料处理费

Seattle, WA: Reduction of plastic bags in both residential (48%) and commercial (76%) waste.

西雅图, 华盛顿州：以民用及商用废弃物方面，塑胶袋分别减少了48%及76%

如果以国家数来衡量，那么在禁塑的国家方面，非洲的比例是最多的，图片来源：Harshil Gudka, Unsplash

Globally, plastic bags are banned in 32 countries, 18 of which are in Africa

到目前为止，全世界有在禁塑的国家为32个，其中有18个是非洲国家

到目前为止，全美有十个州有全面禁塑，图片来源：Louis Velazquez, Unsplash

Plastic bag legislation in the US 美国境内限用塑胶袋的相关法令

Many lists of plastic bag bans exist online — but most are convoluted and hard to understand. In assembling our data, we drew public information from the National Conference of State Legislators and a number of state-level, and country-level reports.

在网路上其实就可以看到非常多禁用塑胶袋的相关法令，不过对于我们来说，大部分都相当晦涩难懂。所以为了要统整相关资讯，我们就只从全国州议会联合会(the National Conference of State Legislators, NCSL)、州际及国家级相关的公开资讯来做筛选。

Let’s start with the United States.

那就先从作者的出生地-美国开始说起。

全美限塑政策概况，图片来源：Reuse This Bag

红色区域：禁止使用塑胶袋；

绿色区域：征税；

橘色：有实施回收或重复使用的相关计划；

黑色：积极推动限塑政策

In America, only two states have conclusively banned single-use plastic bags: Hawaii and California.

目前美国全境有全面禁止一次性的塑胶袋的地区，只有夏威夷跟加利福尼亚这两个州

美国境内有全面实施禁塑的只有加州跟夏威夷，图片来源：
Edgar Chaparro, Unsplash

Though Hawaii’s ban came first, it wasn’t technically a state-wide ban: all five Hawaiian islands (Big Island, Honolulu, Kauai, Maui, and Pala) individually banned plastic bags at various points — the last of which took effect in 2015. The bans, which aim to fully phase in by 2020, range in definition and severity, but generally still allow for the use of 100% recyclable plastic bags.

虽然夏威夷是有颁布相关禁令的其中一州，同时也是全美最早实施相关政策的地区。不过严格说来，整个夏威夷境内，五座岛屿(大岛、檀香山、考艾岛、茂宜岛、帕拉岛)实施的时间点不一，甚至一直要到2015年，帕拉岛才正式实施相关法令。目前当地政府规划是要在2020年前全面严格地实施禁令，但一般来说仍会允许大众使用100%可回收的塑胶袋。

虽然夏威夷是美国第一个实施禁塑的一州，但是境内实施的时间点不一，图片来源：
J de Gier, Unsplash

California passed a unilateral, state-wide ban in September of 2014, and it went into effect in November of 2016. The law bans single-use plastic bags at all large retailers, and imposed a 10-cent charge for paper bags. Before the law was passed, more than 100 California local laws banning bags were already in place.

而另一个全面禁塑的地区为加州。在2014年的九月，政府通过了部分的相关法令，一直到了2016年的11月才正式生效。这项法令明定禁止所有大型零售商使用一次性塑胶袋，并规定，如果消费者想使用袋子，必须多花十分钱(约3块台币)购买纸袋。而在这项法令通过以前，加州政府就已有颁布超过100多条相关的地方法令。