4.20 million tons
of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were generated in the United States in 2018.
This EPA category includes plastic bags, sacks, and wraps such as shrink wrap.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 material dataU.S. material data
Reusable shopping bag and plastic bag waste statistics
A citable collection of U.S. data on plastic bags, sacks, wraps, recycling, and landfill waste. Every figure below names its source and the year it covers.
Last updated September 1, 2026
At a glance
Eight figures worth keeping handy.
These figures give reporters, students, researchers, and shoppers a clear starting point for understanding the scale of plastic bag waste in the United States. The data comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's most recent material-specific tables for this category, which cover 2018.
420,000 tons
of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were recycled in the United States in 2018.
The amount is measured by weight, not by individual bags.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 material data10%
was the recycling rate for plastic bags, sacks, and wraps in the United States in 2018.
EPA reports this rate for the combined bags, sacks, and wraps category.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 material data3.04 million tons
of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were landfilled in the United States in 2018.
That figure is part of the same EPA category used for the recycling rate above.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 material data740,000 tons
of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were combusted with energy recovery in the United States in 2018.
EPA tracks this pathway separately from recycling and landfilling.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 material data35.7 million tons
of plastic were generated in U.S. municipal solid waste in 2018.
Plastic bags are one part of this larger plastic-material total.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, plastics material data27 million tons
of plastic were landfilled in the United States in 2018.
EPA reports this as 18.5% of all municipal solid waste landfilled that year.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, plastics material data14.53 million tons
of plastic containers and packaging were generated in the United States in 2018.
EPA says this category includes bags, sacks, and wraps, along with other packaging.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, plastics material dataHow to read the figures
The category matters.
The five bag-specific figures use EPA's combined category for plastic bags, sacks, and wraps. It is a broader category than grocery bags alone, so these numbers should not be used to describe a single bag type.
The three larger plastic figures give context for the scale of plastic materials and packaging overall. They include many products beyond bags, which is why they are labeled separately on this page.
Methodology and sources
Built for clear citation.
This page summarizes publicly available U.S. Environmental Protection Agency material data. Amounts are reported by weight and retain the EPA's 2018 reporting year. It does not estimate the number of bags used, sold, or avoided.
- EPA, frequently asked questions on plastics and material waste, accessed September 1, 2026.
- EPA, Plastics: Material-Specific Data, accessed September 1, 2026.
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