Most Fun with Plastic Bags

Posted on the 05 June 2014 by Markwadsworth @Mark_Wadsworth

As long as he's not talking about land, Allister Heath digs up some good stuff:
Taxing plastic bags isn’t as significant, of course, and some large chains already charge. But the tax will impose costs on some people and therefore further bolster the cost of living crisis.
There is also worrying evidence from the US that suggests that bans on plastic bags can have devastating side-effects that environmental campaigners have never even considered.
The problem is that reusable bags can be very unhygienic, especially when used to carry meat but also in other cases; they are frequently not washed or disinfected enough, which can cause terrible problems.

The research might or might not be flawed but you have to think about stuff like this.
He loses marks for this bit though:
... the ban increased some deaths from food poisoning and bacterial infections by 25 per cent
That's a typical bansturbator-scary-headline. If the number of such deaths went up from 4 to 5 out of a population of millions, it is meaningless.