I mean disposable plastic bags benefit the poor more than they hurt the rich. For example, perhaps the poor use those plastic bags as trash bags for other waste instead of buying proper trash bags. I know I often did.
From a European perspective, they can be regressive in the sense that poorer people tend to walk / bus to the shops, where carrying bulkier bags is a pain, whereas car owners can just stash them in the boot.
From what I understand in New York, that dynamic may be reversed though.
Carrying the reusable bags that are typically sold at grocery stores or given out at events would be a pain.
I have some bags that are made of a very thin nylon fabric that fold up into a built-in pocket. They take up very little space. I just keep one or two in my regular "going out of the house" bag, so they're always handy. They're sturdy enough that filling both of them with groceries would be more bulk than I actually want to carry home from the bus, so, AFAIC, the problem is handled.
I guess losing plastic grocery bags as garbage bags might be minorly annoying if they were the only source of plastic waste in my life, but, realistically, there are so very many other single-use plastic bags that aren't covered by any of these bans: Chip bags, bread bags, produce bags, etc. My "bin liners for very small bins" needs are still well covered.
Long story short, I have a hard time believing this will actually hurt less wealthy people in urban areas all that much. It's going to be much more annoying to people who drive to the grocery store and now have to remember to keep enough bags to contain $250 worth of groceries at one time in their car.
First job, living in town within walking distance of shops and work, didn't want to carry a bag of bags, especially in summer without big winter coat pockets, so trips to the shop after work had to be pre planned.
Now have a car with a bag with 20 bags permanently in the boot, easy, no planning required.
In Boston, I usually saw pedestrians bring with them those little folding grocery strollers so that they don’t have to carry the bags. Anyone with that sizeable regular haul of groceries isn’t carrying them by hand all the time.
There is still a surprising amount of plastic bags left even if you eliminate the ones for carrying. The bag toilet paper comes in, for example, works pretty well.
OK, I misunderstood you completely and was astounded at my interpretation, thank you for clarifying :) In Turkey they introduced a fee for plastic bags and many people were upset because of what you wrote. My mother would never buy garbage bags except the largest ones that could not be substituted by grocery bags.
From what I understand in New York, that dynamic may be reversed though.