This depends. Sometimes the reusable ones have so much more plastic, that you would need to use it a 100+ times to make it worth it, while at the same time, they last maybe 10, 20 uses, before the handle snaps or something.
> According to one eye-popping estimate, a cotton bag should be used at least 7,100 times to make it a truly environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional plastic bag.
I guess I think it just sort of misses the point. It's like if they were to say "oh we should keep burning fossil fuels instead of solar because solar uses 1000x more land" but then didn't mention or compare CO2 emission.
Source: https://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-...
(First time I've posted hoping I'm wrong and get down voted and yelled at for spreading FUD, haha. But I've seen this figure a lot)
The other advantage is that cotton bags do not shed as many microplastics (the thread is almost always synthetic).
Many of the "re-usable" woven plastic bags I've acquired in recent years are of extremely poor quality. I have had to re-stitch many of them, and some had to be discarded after a very short service life.
Most people are not though, for various reasons, most commonly not caring enough. Plastic bag legislatures should keep that in mind if they want to do more than pass a feel good law.
I don't think it's FUD exactly, I think it's just a bit of a weird analysis that focuses on the wrong things.