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Plastic Bags

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Production of Plastic Bags

 

  • Most plastic grocery bags consist of primarily virgin material, which is needed for strength. 
  • 12 million barrels of oil are used each year to manufacture the 100 billion plastic bags Americans use annually. 
  • While it requires 20-40% less energy to create two plastic bags than to manufacture one paper bag (American Plastics Council), 3-4 plastic bags may be used in place of a single paper bag, due to their smaller capacity.

 

Disposal and Recycling

Plastic Bags and Landfill

 

  • Some plastic is biodegradable, but only if it is exposed to sunlight or to soil.  Most biodegradable plastic in landfills does not have access to sun or soil.  
  • Plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose.
  • However, in May 2008, a Canadian student figured out a way to speed up the decomposing process to about three months.  Hopefully his process will be perfected and some day in commercial use.  

 

Plastic Bag Recycling

 

  • Only 5% of plastic bags get recycled.
  • Some plastic bag recycling programs have been discontinued because about 20% of returned bags were somehow contaminated, through food or other substances. 
  • Changes in the recycling industry may make it easier to recycle plastic bags in the near future, as more plastic bags are turned into wood-polymer lumber made of half wood and half recycled plastic.

 

Locations for Recycling

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Danger to Marine Life

 

  • Even after being placed in a trash container, plastic bags can be blown great distances, due to their extremely light weight. 
  • Sea creatures such as turtles, whales, seals, dolphins, and penguins may mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, which causes them to choke, or to eventually starve.  

 

Alternatives to Plastic Bags

 

Sources