Plastic Bags: Is Banning Them Doing More Harm than Good?
Hikma Abajorga, UMass Lowell
Over a period of forty years, plastic bags went from being a wonder to a threat. When the Swedish engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin invented them in 1959, they were meant to be a better alternative to paper bags, which were thought to have been bad for the environment because of the chopping down of trees and for the prevention of deforestation.[1] Plastic Bags were lighter in weight, easier to make, durable, waterproof and cheaper to ship, so their convenience appealed immensely to both the producer/ supplier and the consumer. In the late 1980’s they had almost replaced paper bags worldwide. Today, about one trillion plastic bags are generated in the world annually.[2] In the US 100 billion plastic bags are produced yearly and four out of five bags in the grocery store are plastic. [3] The negative consequences of using plastic bags were unforeseen until they started popping up in the environment.
Presently, plastic bags are one of three plastic products that cause plastic pollution in the world. Most single use plastics when discarded eventually end up at landfills, and if not, they end up in the waterways. They break into small microplastics that can absorb other pollutants, or end up being consumed by sea creatures that mistake them for food, which ends up hurting or killing them.[5] One significant challenge is that almost all the plastic bags produced are intended for single use. Aside from the reusability issue the production of the material relies mainly on non-renewable resources, and the recycling systems are not currently set up to accept these bags. Out of the all the plastic bags sold in the US only 1% is recycled. [6] The reasons for this are: (1) many recycling facilities do not have the required equipment to collect, sort and handle the bags; (2) there are several different types of plastics used for bags, so the waste stream is not pure; and (3) producing bags from new plastic is often cheaper than producing them from recycled plastic.
According to the Center for Marine Conservation, plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found during coastal cleanups. [7] To fight against this, right now more than 120 countries in the world have some sort of legislation to control the use of plastic bags. This is being done by either, banning them fully or charging consumer fees/producer taxes.[8] Bag bans implemented like those in Kenya and Bangladesh stop the this problem from the source. And it has made a really good ecological impact from the plastic use standpoint. But even though this movement is growing and the number of plastic bags ending up in drains and coastal side has decreased, there still isn’t a better replacement for them. With the intention of reducing pollution, paper bags which were previously understood to have a high global warming potential due to its aid in the destruction of trees and forests are being the alternative to paper bags. [9] But, isn’t using paper bags going backwards in the worlds pro- environment conservation movement? Although there is still debate about this issue, life cycle assessments have shown that paper bags do not have a lower environmental impact compared to plastic.
When considering an alternative for something, different factors need to be considered, including resource use, ease/cost of manufacturing, reusability, solid waste management, recycling and most of all the resulting climate and environmental impacts. [9] The manufacturing of paper bags impacts the environment due to the energy and water consumption needed to make them, and the energy consumed in transport is higher since they weigh a lot more than plastics. Although fewer paper bags may be used due to their higher weight capacity, paper usually fails to be reused since it can tear easily and is not water-resistant. One potential option would be to improve the recycling rate for plastic bags so that it could reach that of paper. The effective recycling of plastic bags portrayed by Canada is a good example. [9]
Another unintended consequence of plastic bag bans is a finding that consumers are purchasing more plastic bags for use in the home, where they may have reused their shopping bags in the past.[11] This is not a blog supporting plastic bags, it is just a reminder that using paper for replacement may not be the best solution.
In conclusion, it all comes down to balancing what the consumer “needs” with the environmental impacts. This is after considering all the factors mentioned above but also thinking about the convenience and safety for the day to day user. Are the consumers happy with the replacement? Is it making their lives easier and do they feel like recycling efforts are worthwhile and effective? With whatever choice that is made, at the end of the day people will always need bags to use so, there will always be an environmental impact. So, question here is what the right choice is. Because after all of it, the customer needs to go home feeling good about their decisions. Therefore, whether it be reusable paper or plastic bags or whatever invention that is soon to come there will be an impact. It all depends on if the consequence is causing nuisance that is bearable.
Reference
3. https://conservingnow.com/plastic-bag-consumption-facts/
4. https://www.oceanwatch.org.au/latest-news/blog/number-of-plastic-bags-produced-worldwide-this-year/
5. https://www.reusethisbag.com/articles/the-truth-about-paper-bags/
7. http://www.dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/PlasticBags/Articles/Googobits_07-21-05.pdf
8. https://www.reusethisbag.com/articles/where-are-plastic-bags-banned-around-the-world/
9. http://www.allaboutbags.ca/papervplastic.html
10. https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/birth-ban-history-plastic-shopping-bag
11. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/09/711181385/are-plastic-bag-bans-garbage