A study showed that both “Compostable-plastic” and Paper bags require more materials and greater energy, per bag, in the manufacturing process than standard plastic bags.
Starting in 2002 in Ireland, a plastic bag costs 15 cents. The plastic bags given out by stores immediately decreased 93.5%.
The vast majority of plastic bags end up in landfills.
Isn’t that the ultimate in CARBON SEQUESTRATION vs chopping down trees for paper bags? — reducing the number of trees taking carbon out of the air?
The Standard PLASTIC bag:
- Has significantly lower environmental impacts than a 30%-recycled-content-paper-bag
- Manufactures with :
3.4 times less energy than a Paper bag and
1.8 times less energy than the Compostable bag. - Produces:
1/6th the SOLID WASTE ( by weight) of Paper bags and
less than one-half that of Compostable! - Emits:
half the Global Warming potential (CO2 equivalent) of Paper bags and
1/7th that of Compostable
( because it does not decompose like Paper & Compostable and Compostable emits 5 x more Carbon in production ) - In manufacturing it uses:
1/25th WATER than Paper and
1/17th of Compostable!
ENGLAND 2015: Just 8 cents (5p) on a plastic bag reduced use by 85% (7 billion were used the previous year)
IRELAND: with a tax of 15c per bag, the amount is given out in stores is reduced by 93.5% – folks won’t be littering with them at that price — just putting wet trash in them — for the garbage and landfill. ( the tax is now 31c).
Carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.
The impact of Plastic bags on litter, the latest figures, 2013, suggests there has been a 20-fold decrease since the levy was introduced in 2002.
If someone’s going to buy a bag — better it is the more environmentally friendly plastic than paper.
In the US we clearly need to tax ALL bags equally — at over 15c and ban none. Better yet, go with a Beyond Green Bag that’s a win-win all the way across!
Source: the PLASTIC BAG MYTH
Pura Vida Bioplastics = Real Certificates USDA BIO-BASED, TUV, BNQ, GREEN AMERICA Home Compostable – Breaks down 3-4 months without Chemicals
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