Policies that have banned or imposed fees on plastic bags are leading to significant declines in plastic litter along U.S. shorelines, a new study has found.

These state- and local-level regulations have brought about a 25 percent to 47 percent plunge in the proportion of bags in total coastal littler cleanups, in comparison to places that lack such rules, according to the study, published Thursday in Science.

“There are so many pathways a bag can take from the checkout line at the store,” said senior author Kimberly Oremus, an associate professor in marine science at the University of Delaware, in a statement.

“It’s great to see a policy that works in such a clearly measurable way,” Oremus added.

Thin plastic shopping bags are one of the biggest culprits of plastic pollution on coastlines,........

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