60 second guide to Plastic bags

They are the newest environmental bugbear. But why is everyone suddenly so interested in plastic bags?

What is the problem with plastic bags?

Few people could argue that plastic bags haven’t made our lives more convenient – they are light yet strong, and incredibly versatile; simplifying the way we carry goods. Unfortunately this is also their problem. Plastic bags are so convenient and durable that, according to DEFRA, the average carrier bag is used for only five minutes, yet takes 500 years to decompose.

Plastic carrier bags are also cheap and polluting. They are made from a by-product of oil refining, which would otherwise be wasted. Small wonder, then, that British shops hand out a staggering 13 billion of them every year free of charge.

How do plastic bags affect us?

Plastic bags often end up in our streets, countryside and on our beaches. They don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade – breaking down into smaller toxic particles that enter the food chain when ingested by animals and contaminating soil, waterways and the sea.

As well as polluting the ocean, plastic bags can also harm its inhabitants – turtles and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags, mistaking them for food. But even when they are thrown away in the rubbish they still cause problems - burning plastic releases greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The politics of plastic

The war on plastic bags has become something of a cause celebre for politicians. In his first major speech on the environment since taking over at number 10, Gordon Brown said that plastic shopping bags were ‘one of the most visible symbols of environmental waste’.

In February, Mr Brown pledged to eradicate single-use bags. In his first budget announcement, Alistair Darling introduced legislation to enable ministers to impose charges on plastic bags should retailers be slow to get rid of them voluntarily. However, the government has been attacked by critics for jumping on a bandwagon, which they claim isn’t backed up by substantial scientific evidence.

Natural History Museum marine biologist Professor Geoff Boxshall said, “I’ve never seen a bird killed by a plastic bag. Other forms of plastic in the ocean are much more damaging. Only a very small proportion is caused by bags.”

From an eco perspective,reducing the number of single-use plastic bags is a positive step, but whether media and political efforts might be better focused on pressuring retailers to tackle less “easy win” targets, such as reducing carbon emissions, is still open to debate.

Banning the bag

In some parts of the world, the plastic bag has had a far more dramatic environmental legacy. Low-lying Bangladesh denounced it as the main culprit of their 1988 and 1998 floods, which submerged two thirds of the country. Discarded plastic bags had blocked the drainage systems in the country, precipitating the floods. Unsurprisingly, Bangladesh has now declared an outright ban on all polythene bags.

A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90 per cent and raised millions of euros in revenue. The 15 per cent tax that retailers have been forced to levy on their bags equates to a 15 euro (9p) charge on each new plastic bag.This has seen customers routinely turning up pre-prepared with bags for their shopping trips.

The system was originally introduced in an attempt to reduce plastic bag litter.But by providing a financial penalty, advocates of the tax say that Republic of Ireland has transformed the way it uses and thinks about plastic bags.

It is not yet clear if Britain will follow suit. But the public’s attitude towards plastic bags is certainly starting to change. Ultimately, the solution may lie not just with retailers or the government but also with consumers’ behaviour. With growing awareness of its environmental impacts, the future of the single-use plastic bag is looking increasingly uncertain.