[evgen]

The problem with solutions like this is that life is more complicated. Plastic bags are easy and energy efficient to produce and to ship to the end-user. Paper bags degrade incredibly poorly in the anaerobic environment of landfills and they use more energy for shipping to the end-user. IIRC, a paper bag that is not reused three times before being thrown away or recycled ends up using more energy and resources than the plastic bags being banned, and a high-density plastic bag needs to be reused 10 times, and a cloth bag needs to be used 150+ times to be better than low density plastic bags.

[adrianN]

Paper bags may use more energy, but they dissolve in the ocean instead of turning into microplastics and accumulating in the food chain.

[evgen]

They may dissolve in the ocean, but the US does not dump its garbage in the ocean. When you put them in a landfill the last for a very long time. A very, very long time. When people want to determine the age range from a core sample of a landfill then just look for paper because it does not degrade in an anaerobic environment.