Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy • Author Copy Introduction The global environmental impacts [1] of plastic bags; despite being inexpensive and convenient, are quite substantial. Among its manifestations is the solid waste contamination which can have many secondary impacts on wildlife, wildlife habitat, and human health [2]. These plastic bags, which are lowly priced, are made up of non-renewable resources which last hundreds of years for their full degradation in addition to containing additives that pollute the environment [3]. Socially, plastic bags are a common means of carrying merchandise. For example, in many countries including in Israel, retailers, open-air markets, and shops distribute the bags, which are manufactured from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and aimed to be used Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 30, No. 5 (2021), 1-9 Original Research Plastic Bags Ban and Social Marginalization: Evidence from Morocco Amina El Mekaoui 1 *, Youness Benmouro 2 , Hicham Ait Mansour 2 , Othón Baños Ramírez 3 1 Catedra CONACYT, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales, Unidad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Calle 61 número 525 entre 66 y 68, col. Centro, Mérida Yucatán, Mexico. C.P. 97000 2 Mohamed V University, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Department of Sociology, Rabat, Morocco. Avenue des Nations Unies, Agdal, Rabat Maroc B.P:8007. N.U. 3 Centro de Investigaciones Regionales, Unidad de ciencias Sociales, Profesor investigador de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Calle 61 número 525 entre 66 y 68, col. Centro, Mérida Yucatán, Mexico. C.P. 97000 Received: 20 October 2020 Accepted: 1 February 2021 Abstract Biased socio-environmental policies often result in social resistance among the less well-off, hence hindering the effectiveness of such policies. The present research investigated the implications of the plastic bags ban in Morocco implemented in July 2016 and how it differentially impacted formal and informal sector workers including customers of informal economy markets. While formal markets succeeded in implementing the ban given the affordability of alternatives to plastic compared to their customers living standards, the informal markets vendors and customers not only could not afford these alternatives but also suffered from impoverishing effects of such policy as the fndings of our research show. The paper concludes that the effectiveness of environmental policies relies heavily on their implementation within a wider framework addressing socio-economic inequalities and poverty among the informal sector workers especially in countries where the latter constitute a large proportion of the national economy. Keywords: environmental policy, ethnographic research, informal sector, social problems, plastic ban *e-mail: amina.mekaoui@conacyt.mx DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/132981 ONLINE PUBLICATION DATE: