Focus on Plastic Bags

The Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research agency, estimates that more than 500 billion plastic bags are used annually around the world. Canadians use about 55 million plastic bags per week (Greater Vancouver Regional District).

The average family of four uses at least 1,000 plastic bags a year and 98 per cent of them end up in landfills (yorkregion.com). Those plastic bags can sit in the landfill for up to 1,000 years before breaking down.

The bags' petroleum-based plastic eventually breaks into tiny particles that contaminate soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.

Plastic bags also block gutters and drains, and choke farm animals and marine wildlife. Thousands of marine animals die each year from eating bags mistaken for food.

The bags are light and blow around easily. They are a visible part of litter. Municipalities spend millions of dollars cleaning bags from streets, trees, recycling systems and around landfills.

While the number of bags Canadians use is staggering (55 million a week equates to 2.86 billion in a year), the plastics industry points out that they are only one percent of the municipal waste stream.

In an attempt to reduce bag litter, some countries have put a levy on them. Ireland’s 15 cent tax on each plastic bag in 2002 is credited with reducing bag use by 90 percent in its first year.

Municipal governments have used outright bans on plastic bags to reduce litter. Small communities (Leaf Rapids, Manitoba — population 500) and large communities ( San Francisco — population way, way more) have adopted bans in the last year.

The plastics industry is not so excited about the response to the plastic bag issue. They cite litter studies that show that plastic bags are half a percent (0.5%) of total litter.

The Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) argues that taxes and bans are bad public policy, and would rather see a 3Rs solution to the litter. They claim that in many cases, the public and policy-makers don’t realize that plastic bags are recyclable. They are in demand for recycling into plastic lumber and can be recycled into new plastic bags.

EPIC’s efforts have led to the withdrawal or defeat of several plastic bag tax proposals at the Union of BC Municipalities, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and in several cities.

It will be interesting to watch how this issue unfolds worldwide.

(Source: August 2007 WasteWatch)

Taxing Plastic Bags: A New Trend?

In March, 2002, the Irish government instituted a 15 cent tax on each plastic shopping bag in order to curb litter. Results have been amazing: Irish shoppers have reduced their plastic bag use by 90%. More than a billion bags have been removed from circulation.

In Britain, eight million bags are used every year, or 133 per person. The British government is considering following Ireland's example.

In addition to causing litter, plastic bags are hazardous to manufacture and can take as much as 1,000 years to degrade. Their use has led to other, more some severe unintended consequences. In March, Bangladesh banned plastic bags completely after finding out that the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two thirds of the country were actually caused by discarded bags plugging up the drainage system.

In India, cows end up eating plastic bags as they forage for food on the street. This causes them to choke or starve to death. The same happens to turtles, which commonly mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, say environmentalists. In South Africa, plastic bags are called the "national flower" because so many can be seen flapping from fences and caught in bushes.

In addition to reducing litter and waste big time, Ireland's bag tax has generated 3.5 million euros for use on environmental programs. It is estimated that 10 million euros could be raised over a full year.

Is this an example of the type of Green Taxes that prominent writers insist we need in order to achieve a sustainable future?

(Source: WasteWatch, September 2002)

Plastic bag scourge

NAIROBI — They've become as much a symbol of Africa's landscape as the stereotypical lions and plains. Discarded plastic bags — in the billions — flutter from thorn-bushes across the continent, and clog up cities from Cape Town to Casablanca.

South Africa was once producing 7 billion bags a year; Somaliland residents became so used to them they re-named them "flowers of Hargeisa" after their capital; and Kenya not so long ago churned out about 4,000 tonnes of polythene bags a month.

"They're an eyesore across Africa, but they are damaging health and environment ... too," said the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) Africa industry officer Desta Mebratu.

Produced — and then strewn — en masse in most countries, the flimsy bags block drains and sewage systems and can kill livestock who nibble and digest them. They spread malaria by holding mini-pools of warm water for mosquitoes to breed in. They choke soil and plants, and leak colour additives into food.

The phenomenon began in the late 1990s when new technology made production cheap and easy. The consequent throw-away culture meant plastic bags quickly became an ugly but integral part of the African landscape.

Now UNEP and other concerned bodies are spearheading a fast-growing campaign to contain the menace. Their emphasis is not just on curbing production, but also promoting re-use of bags, and recycling of plastic waste.

"The plastic problem is now on the agenda of almost every African country," Mr. Mebratu, an Ethiopian, said at his office in a UN compound in Nairobi. "The major focus is to promote rational use and disposal of plastic bags."

Rwanda and Eritrea have already banned the bags outright, the United Nations says. "Go to the airport in Kigali and if you have a plastic bag, they will confiscate it," Mr. Mebratu said.

Somaliland, an autonomous and self-declared independent region of Somalia, has taken a similarly draconian measure.

Larger countries such as South Africa, Uganda and Kenya have introduced minimum thickness rules, while Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho and Tanzania are considering such measures too.

Some nations are also slapping levies on plastic bag production to ensure consumers re-use rather than trash them.

Senegal and Egypt get high marks for their recycling initiatives, Mr. Mebratu said. “We are very much encouraged by what is happening, but there is a long way to go still. Anyone can see that."

Not surprisingly, African manufacturers do not believe in drastic measures or high taxes on plastic bags, but rather a culture change among consumers. Instead of punishing producers, they say, users should be better educated on disposal, re-use and recycling to prevent mass dumping of plastic bags. "Manufacturers want to help clean the environment," Bimal Kantaria, a board member of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, told Reuters. "But we want to do so effectively and target the problem, which is irresponsible disposal. We in the industry understand there is a problem with plastic bags polluting the environment. However, an excise tax is hard to collect and easy to evade."

Mr. Kantaria proposed a moderate "green levy tax" on the imported raw materials to raise funds for a new body charged with public awareness campaigns.

Some street-sellers have a simpler idea. John Kihui, chairman of Kenya's national hawkers' association, said merely providing more litter bins would solve 70 per cent of the problem. "That is what has removed plastic and other litter from Nairobi city centre where today bins stand at strategic places and people no longer toss refuse carelessly," he told the local Standard newspaper. "Impact? A positive behaviour change without necessarily punishing the people."

Ugandan officials meanwhile have a back-to-basics message for their people — instead of plastic bags, use banana leaves.

Copyright 2007 Reuters. Reprinted with permission from Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters Sphere Logo are registered trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. For additional information about Reuters content and services, please visit Reuters website at www.reuters.com.

Reprinted in August 2007 WasteWatch

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