San Francisco’s recent ban on standard plastic grocery bags has set off another flurry of debates about whether paper or plastic is the bigger environmental no-no.
The state of New York and cities such as Austin and LA are considering bans or reduction programs, although locales such as Houston (home to #2 US plastic bagmaker Advanced Polybag) are more lukewarm. San Francisco’s initiative comes after global actions including a highly successful bag tax in Ireland and outright bans in Bangladesh and South Africa.
A million plastic bags take 430,000 gallons of petroleum to make, and the US alone consumes billions. The bags that litter our streets and clog our landfills take an estimated 1,000 years to decompose. Top plastic bag manufacturers like Sigma Plastics, Inteplast, and Hilex Poly can’t be happy with the spreading bans, but the paper bag industry may not exactly boom as a result. Paper not only depletes forest resources but also requires more energy to produce and recycle.
San Francisco and advocates of similar plans allow for alternatives including the use of recycled paper bags, degradable plastic bags (made from starches), or (the most logical and yet least likely alternative) bringing your own canvas bag. I predict a spike in reusable shopping bag promotions from the likes of GreenSak and Enviro-Tote. But, as in previous shopping bag revolutions, I doubt that the majority of shoppers will cross over.
Comments
Gerard Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Plastic bags are not made from petroleum - they are made from non-fuel refinery residues or from natural gas. The total weight of a million plastic bags is about 6 tons - equivelent to 7,500 litres or less than 2000 gallons in fuel equivalent terms.
The average shopper uses more gas getting to the mall than in a year’s use of shopping bags.
Plastic bags do not decompose in landfill - but neither do bricks, rocks and many other items. So what? That simply means they cannot contribute to leachate and emission problems - which are the byproducts of decomposition.
SF ban on plastic shopping bags in favour of so-called ‘degradable’ bags is a disaster - as these cost more and take more energy to produce. The decision was based on the same misinformation as is generally promulgated about shopping bags.
Gerard, Sydney, Australia
buz Says:
January 17th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I would just like to say that I am very pleased with the efforts that Hilex Poly of MT. Olive has made on the new biodegradable film to make bags out of. I think this is a huge development in the industry and only shows their leadership and commitment to the enviorment and their customers!
Leave a Comment