In California, we voted on the plastic bag issue one day, and we lost.... AMAZINGLY, the VERY NEXT DAY all the stores had 10 cent bags, and no thin bags. What does that tell YOU? It's is a scam! And, don't believe the bull crap artists that start quoting numbers, because they just make up numbers to justify their claims. Damn near every thin plastic bag that ever reached our home served a dual purpose by being converted into a garbage pail bag, or a diaper wrap bag. Don't believe all the bull crap you hear, unless you want to be led around by the nose, through your nose ring, by a bunch of snowflakes that have nothing better to contribute to society than being social justice warriors, and poor attempts at human beings. I recycle/repurpose just about every damn thing in my possession, and I never needed anyone to force me to do it. Just give me the damn separate trash cans, and I'll do my own sorting, and put them at the curb, for pickup.
Funny thing is, decades ago they had us all sorting & bundling used newspapers, for recycling, and then THEY put them all in the GD landfill, because THEY weren't capable of recycling them fast enough!
I agree, we should just be able to fold the pulp into the soil, and get the benefits of water absorption, if there are any. The pulp makes a great fire retardant, as well. At one time, I considered following the Japanese example of making a business converting used baby & elderly diapers, and fem products, into burnable pellets, but my wife wouldn't even consider it. In Florida, there's plenty of eldercare facilities that would've provided the used diapers for free...
Anyway, as an addendum, I started buying plastic 4-gallon scented bags, for diaper disposal, (as a trucker, and for on the road disposal), and got 75 roll bags for about $2-$3... Just searched the net, to reorder, and found them about 2x to 3x the cost, so, yeah, there's money to be made, by limiting people's choices, and if a person doesn't believe that, it probably also dictates the way that person votes, I'm guessing.
MAGA, and give me back my GD trash bags!