Consumers may not like the regulations, like in Brazil for example where a national bag policy never came to fruition because citizens felt it their right to continue to receive free plastic bags. Government officials may not like the regulations, or there could be internal politics that have nothing to do with the regulations themselves that should be kept in mind. Businesses, particularly smaller ones that pay more for bag alternatives might resist change.

The plastic bag industry in particular will likely lobby hard and have used litigation and state preemption in many cases to thwart plastic bag regulations, while in other cases they have taken measures to overturn them. The plastics industry has spent millions lobbying against local ordinances and for statewide preemption of local ordinances, engaged in public relations campaigns, and sued or threatened to sue, for example, virtually every California municipality that has recently taken steps to adopt a plastic bag ordinance. Plastic bag manufacturers also sued a reusable bag manufacturer for “talking trash” about plastic bags.

The seriousness with which the plastics industry is taking environmentalists’ attempts to restrict plastic bags demonstrates that this is a “tipping point” issue for the plastics industry, and the battle is far from over.