EU Plastic Bag Debate Highlights a Wider Global Problem

jones_supa writes "An EU citizen uses around 200 plastic bags per year. That's too much, says the EU. But wasting plastic bags is not just a European problem. Countries around the world are struggling with the issue, and it especially affects growing economies such as Asia. Some Southeast Asian countries don't even have the proper infrastructure in place to dispose of the bags properly. The problems for the environment are many. Plastic bags usually take several hundred years until they decay, thereby filling landfills, while animals often mistake the plastic for food and choke to death. Additionally they are a major cause of seaborne pollution, which is a serious hazard for marine life. This autumn, EU started ambitious plans which aim to reduce usage 80% by 2017. Some countries have already applied measures to slow plastic bag use: England has added a 5p charge to previously free bags, and in Ireland the government has already imposed a tax of 22 euro cents ($0.29) per plastic bag. The EU Environment Commissioner, Janez Potonik, said, 'We're taking action to solve a very serious and highly visible environmental problem.'"

Comments

England

[biodata]

In England the government has said that a 5p charge will come in 2015 AFTER THE NEXT ELECTION. Too early to count chickens.

Re:England

[TheRaven64]

In Wales, the charge has been in place for over a year.

Re:England

[Vanderhoth]

They tried that here in Nova Scotia, at one point. Home Depot, Superstore and Walmart were charging 5 cents for each plastic bag. Sobey's, a competing grocery store with Superstore, opted not to charge for bags. Superstore lost BIG because people saw charging for bags as a cash grab, passing the buck, and making a profit, for something that's been free for a long time off to the consumer. People started going to Sobey's in droves, I remember not even being able to get in a store at one point. It wasn't long before Superstore stopped charging for bags. Not long after that so did Home Depot. I speculate because Kent, Home Depot's competition, didn't charge. Warlmart gave up shortly there after when Costco moved into town.

What Sobey's did do right was start selling cheap reusable nylon and canvas bags, which they would replace if ever the bag was damaged. I paid around $12 for six bags and some how ended up with ten somewhere along the way. I've had three replaced over the last four years with no issues. People still use plastic bags, I get them every now and then to clean the cat box and for kitchen catchers, but I see a lot more people using the reusable bags instead.

Re:England

[Chrisq]

I have 2 reusable bags, but I almost always forget to take them with me anywhere. I used one last week, but that was the first time in months.

Its not just me then. The thing is I have about 20 reusable bags - I keep buying one to keep in the car .... take it into the house full of groceries and there it stays.

Re:England

[Saethan]

Only problem with keeping them in a car is they tend to be alive. If you're going to use reusable bags, please wash them. BTW, what the heck happened to paper bags? Those decompose pretty quick.

Re:England

[camperdave]

Only problem with keeping them in a car is they tend to be alive.

Actually, that is not a problem. Not only does it affect only the weak and sickly (the ones who aren't going to make it anyway), but it only threatens the tiny percentage of the population who remember to reuse their reusable bags in the first place.

Re:England

[Chrisq]

You hang your backpack off your handlebars?

A colleague who cycles everywhere (even in the snow - he's insane) says "Never use a backpack for something heavy. If the weight shifts it will pull you off track. Use panniers instead and you can carry loads of heavy stuff without problems"

Re:England

[ifiwereasculptor]

Well, I tend to choose plastic bags at the supermarket because later I use them for garbage disposal. AFAIK, that's the norm (and very harmful to the environment, but garbage bags are plastic everywhere, aren't they?).

The cost and use of plastic bags

[Apotekaren]

Ok, so plastic bags in the grocery stores here in Finland have cost somewhere between 15-30 Euro cents for, well forever. I could get a proper cloth grocery bag to reuse, or buy paper bags instead, but I choose not to. Why? I use those plastic bags for my trash!

So if I did go cloth or, heaven forbid, paper, I'd still have to buy plastic bags to put in my trash cans. It doesn't matter if I buy them separately or on a roll, I'm going to keep buying those plastic bags until I come up with a better way to get rid of my trash.

Re:The cost and use of plastic bags

[Sockatume]

A roll of specially-designed bin-liners costs the equivalent of about five Euro cents per bag here, and you can get them in biodegradable varieties. You're wasting your money by using shopping bags.

Easy to ACTUALLY solve

[drinkypoo]

Waste is a massive problem. And it has a trivial solution. Mandate that all packaging be recyclable, and marked for recycling. If it's not marked for recycling, prohibit sale and require the packages to be destroyed or returned to the country of origin. Anything not recyclable must be compostable and clearly marked as such. Finally, all plastic bags must be rapidly UV-degrading and compostable, full stop. That outright solves the problem of plastic bag forests. You don't need to charge a premium, which does absolutely nothing to mitigate the problem of the bags which ARE thrown away, and only an idiot would believe that the majority of the population will take good care of plastic sacks because they cost them 5p a piece. Requiring a more expensive bag will have the effect of making the bags more expensive anyway; some retailers will roll the cost into the cost of their products, and some of them will charge the customer. Either way, the free market is completely capable of solving this problem with the proper guidance, which is NOT a fee.

Re:Taxing is not going to fix the problem

[Sockatume]

There already are better bags, they're offered for sale alongside the cheap nasty ones. Either more durable plastic, or foil-lined bags for freezer items, or a range of light-to-heavy-duty fabric bags.

Biodegradable is not enough

[Errol backfiring]

You are right to say compostable. Merely biodegradable usually means that there are a lot of harmful chemicals after the degrading process.

Re:Taxing is not going to fix the problem

[TWiTfan]

Yes, except I'm not going to use a bunch of fabric bags that have to buy myself, remember to bring to the store, and that have to be washed after every visit to the store. A much better and more practical idea would be a modest surcharge (5 cents/bag or whatever) which you then get back when you turn them in for recycling (which would be required in every store, not just at recycling centers). We already do this with plastic bottles in several states in the U.S. and, the way I see it, everybody wins.

Re:Taxing is not going to fix the problem

[TheRaven64]

remember to bring to the store

This is the big one. It's quite common to pop into a shop on the way home, and unless you're driving you won't have a bag with you. I'd love it if shops would give you a bag for a deposit and return the deposit when you returned the bag.

plastic bags in our seas?

[amn108]

Five years ago I was on a beach outside Malaga, Spain, about to take a swim in the sea. Diving under water I suddenly saw hundreds of more or less colored plastic bags floating around at different depths, like jellyfish. The sea was apparently full with those, at least along the coastline, to a degree. Some sort of tide bringing these I guess. Needless to say, the swimming experience was not particularly appealing suddenly and was cut short. It was disgusting. I am not really sure how to fix this problem today, but a price tag on each bag and a penalty for disposing of trash in inappropriate locations in general seem like a start to me.

Re:Taxing is not going to fix the problem

[Sockatume]

Funnily enough the bacteria, salmonella etc. have a hard time getting through the plastic that my meat comes wrapped in, and my fruits and vegetables get washed to remove "store germs" from everyone who's been handling them anyway. It's amazing how people can make the most trivial change to their habits sound like an invitation for catastrophe.

You don't have to remember to take the bags if you have them with you; and it's no additional effort to remember to take the bags if you are of sufficient mental competence that you know you are leaving the house to go to the store, and not just wander about in a daze.

Re:This issue isn't so black and white

[TheCarp]

> For one thing, it turns out that lots of people do "recycle" those "disposable" plastic bags. When
> Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags, bin liner purchases increased by 400%.

Bingo! I mean I will admit, i throw away the occasional perfectly good bag but, we use them for all sorts of thing. we even have had a bin just for putting plastic bags in so they could be reused later. Who doesn't reuse them?

Need to carry something that has to be protected from rain? Plastic bag. Need a small trash bag to carry with you while cleaning up? Need a quick "glove" to pick up something nasty? Plastic bags. plastic bag. Or a trash bag...for the car.

Re:Taxing is not going to fix the problem

[camperdave]

I've found a solution to having to wash the reusable bags. I just line them with some of the convenient plastic bags from the grocery store.