In an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, Maine lawmakers voted this week to delay the implementation of the state’s planned ban on single-use plastic bags until Jan. 15, 2021.

The ban had been scheduled to take effect April 22. But with studies suggesting that improperly cleaned reusable bags can serve as breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses, legislators in the Pine Tree State opted to put the prohibitions on ice until next year. The delay was part of Maine’s larger action plan to check COVID-19’s spread.

Maine is re-embracing single-use plastic bags and halting its bag ban because "reusable tote bags can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses — and spread the viruses throughout the store." Learn more: https://t.co/XCoak5ElD4 pic.twitter.com/WCMFLO8eWZ

— PLASTICS_US (@PLASTICS_US) March 19, 2020

“These emergency measures will support the state’s response to the coronavirus and mitigate its spread in Maine,” said Maine Gov. Janet Mills.

Maine’s decision comes as a growing number of politicians, public policy analysts, plastics industry leaders and others call for a rollback or removal of current or planned single-use plastic bag bans.

For instance, New York’s prohibitions on single-use plastic bags went into effect on March 1. New York, however, has more cases of coronavirus than any other state. That’s prompted Republican Sen. John Flanagan, minority leader of New York’s senate, to call for suspending the ban.

“It is time to protect New Yorkers from the continuing spread of coronavirus by taking the additional steps of suspending the plastic bag ban and saying no to policies — at this time — that could lead to any additional cases,” he said in a statement.

The pushback on bans comes as Starbucks and Dunkin’ have suspended fills on refillable mugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic – and as some cities are also pausing prohibitions on single-use plastics and related products or are considering doing so. As Plastic News reported, Brookline, MA has halted its prohibitions on polystyrene containers. Nick Isgro, the mayor of Waterville, ME, has called on city leaders to suspend the local ban placed on single-use plastic bags last year.

“These reusable tote bags can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses — and spread the viruses throughout the store,” Isgro said in a social media post. “Be assured this is not to re-litigate our current ordinance. … This should be seen as a temporary public safety measure.”

In an article for Forbes, Patrick Gleason, vice president of state affairs at the advocacy/policy research organization Americans For Tax Reform, details that a “2011 study published by researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University found that reusable shopping bags are often used for multiple purposes, transported and set down in many difference places, and are ‘seldom if ever washed.’ Researchers discovered ‘large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all bags and coliform bacteria in half,’ along with a ‘wide range of enteric bacteria, including several opportunistic pathogens.’ A number of additional studies have found reusable bags can serve as carriers of bacteria that cause food-borne illness.”

Rigorously cleaning the reusable bags after each use can kill bacteria and viruses, but reportedly only 3% of reusable bag consumers ever wash the bags.

Plastic bag bans can impact the promotional products industry. Some believe the bans can engender opportunities to sell more reusable totes. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, distributors in New York said the ban there would create ample chances for sales of the reusable alternatives.

In recent years, a growing number of cities, municipalities, states and even countries have sought to enact prohibitions on single-use plastic bags. It’s part of an effort to reduce plastic bag litter and pollution, though some studies say the bans are ineffective in achieving that. Ban proponents say the bag pollution spoils natural habitat and poses a danger to wildlife, which can choke on or become caught in the disposables.

In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tons of plastic, according to Surfers Against Sewage, a marine conservation charity based in the United Kingdom. In 2016, a global population of more than 7 billion people produced more than 320 million tons of plastic. The 2016 tally is set to double by 2034. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into oceans, according to Surfers Against Sewage.

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