Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, which comes from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource.
They are ubiquitous. Between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
However, less than 1 percent of the bags are recycled because it costs more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle a ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold for $32.
If the economics don't work, recycling efforts don't work.
Cloth bag
We can save six plastic bags a week if we use a cloth bag. That's 24 plastic bags a month, 288 plastic bags a year and 22,176 plastic bags in an average lifetime. If just one out of every five people in our country did this we would save 1,330,560,000,000 plastic bags over our life time.
There's another reason why plastic bags should be banned. Plastic bags take between 20 and 1,000 years to break down in the environment. Even when they do break down they are not really gone. Plastic bags do not biodegrade rather, they photodegrade.
Top discards
So it doesn't come as a surprise that plastic bags are the top discards collected in Philippine waters.
A discards survey in Manila Bay found that plastic bags comprised 51.4 percent of the flotsam in 2006 and 27.7 percent in 2010, according to the EcoWaste Coalition, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Greenpeace. Plastics in general, including plastic bags, made up 77 percent of the discards in 2006 and 76 percent in 2010.
In Laguna de Bay, plastic bags accounted for the biggest group of discards at 23 percent, according to a survey in September 2011.
LGUs support ban
Recognizing the threats posed by plastic bags to the environment, a growing number of municipalities and cities are now implementing ordinances aimed at reducing the use of the bags.
he league of 27 municipalities of Nueva Ecija also signed a resolution declaring a ban on the use of plastic bags.
Subic Bay Freeport is the latest addition to the list.
Muntinlupa City reaped the benefit of banning not only plastic bags but also polysterene, commonly known as Styrofoam (a brand name) when a tropical storm struck last year. With its waterways free from plastic bags and Styrofoam debris, the city was flood-free despite the heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm "Falcon."
The Metro Manila Development Authority, thus, strongly encourages local government units to adopt similar strong measures like what Muntinlupa has done.
For its part, the Laguna Lake Development Authority has issued Resolution No. 406 requiring local government units in the Laguna de Bay region to pass and implement an ordinance banning the use and distribution of thin-film, single-use, carry-out and nonbiodegradable plastic bags.
More countries are also banning the use of plastic bags:
Bangladesh was the first country to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags that led to jute exports increasing by up to 70 percent.
Ireland introduced a "plastax" of 15 cents (now 22 cents) on single-use carrier bags. Plastic-bag use dropped by 95 percent.
Other countries include China, India (Himachal Pradesh), Britain (Modbury), South Africa, Rwanda and the United States .
2012年3月31日星期六
2012年3月1日星期四
To plastic or not to plastic, that is the question...
In particular, the massive floods around the metropolis during those devastating storms belatedly brought to the fore the perils of drainage systems and waterways perennially clogged with plastic garbage.
Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) show that more than 80% of the trash retrieved from the country's shorelines is made up of non-biodegradable materials such as plastic and rubber. About half of these plastic items thrown in bodies of water were plastic bags, followed by food wrappers and plastic containers. These plastics take as much as 20 years before they decompose.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the bulk of the more than 8,000 metric tons of garbage collected in Metro Manila on a daily basis was comprised of plastics.
MMDA chairman Francis N. Tolentino has also raised the alarm on the haphazards posed by the dumping of plastic products that clog the metropolis' already overburdened drainage system, resulting in flooding during heavy rains.
Waste audits conducted in November 2010 by the EcoWaste Coalition, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace, Mother Earth Foundation and other environment advocacy groups revealed that 75.55% of the total volume of trash in Manila Bay was plastic discards, mostly plastic bags, and polystyrene (styrofoam) products.
"It is unfortunate that plastic items -- led by plastic bags and styro products -- remain to be the prime visible pollutants of Manila Bay. Our findings reinforced what all of us already know: plastics is a problem and our penchant for patronizing disposable products magnifies this problem," GAIA representative Gigie Cruz said in a statement.
Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) show that more than 80% of the trash retrieved from the country's shorelines is made up of non-biodegradable materials such as plastic and rubber. About half of these plastic items thrown in bodies of water were plastic bags, followed by food wrappers and plastic containers. These plastics take as much as 20 years before they decompose.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the bulk of the more than 8,000 metric tons of garbage collected in Metro Manila on a daily basis was comprised of plastics.
MMDA chairman Francis N. Tolentino has also raised the alarm on the haphazards posed by the dumping of plastic products that clog the metropolis' already overburdened drainage system, resulting in flooding during heavy rains.
Waste audits conducted in November 2010 by the EcoWaste Coalition, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace, Mother Earth Foundation and other environment advocacy groups revealed that 75.55% of the total volume of trash in Manila Bay was plastic discards, mostly plastic bags, and polystyrene (styrofoam) products.
"It is unfortunate that plastic items -- led by plastic bags and styro products -- remain to be the prime visible pollutants of Manila Bay. Our findings reinforced what all of us already know: plastics is a problem and our penchant for patronizing disposable products magnifies this problem," GAIA representative Gigie Cruz said in a statement.
2012年2月28日星期二
Rockport residents weigh in on plastic bag ban
A proposed ban on plastic bags has Rockport residents divided, according to a city sponsored survey that the City Council discussed Tuesday during a workshop.
"Let the marketplace work! Is there not more important matters for city?" one resident asked.
Another resident stated, "For years and years, Europeans have had to provide their own bags. We need to stop the waste!"
The city distributed almost 9,000 surveys with water bills, asking residents how they felt about banning or requiring businesses to charge for plastic or paper bags. There were 688 responses. The survey and a public workshop Tuesday were the first steps the council has made toward the ban. The council took no action at the workshop.
Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Fisher said Brownsville successfully banned plastic bags last year, and he was surprised by the number of Rockport residents who supported a local ban. He blamed visitors for the bags blowing throughout town. The money made from selling reusable bags could be used in a cleanup effort, he said.
Councilwoman Adelaide Marlatt disagreed with Fisher on where the trash originates. She said the trash begins with haulers in town that don't cover their trailers. Marlatt pushed for litter law enforcement.
A plastic shopping bag ban also has been discussed by Corpus Christi city officials this month after residents called for the ban. Beeville considered a ban in 2009 but never voted on an ordinance.
In Rockport, one resident surveyed told the city to fine people who litter instead of making everyone responsible.
"We shouldn't be charged because you're not making people pay for trashing the place," the resident wrote. "I'll end up doing my shopping in another town if I have to pay for bags."
Another resident suggested the city implement a "bag awareness" initiative.
Still, others were concerned about the environment. "Birds should be in the trees," one wrote, "not plastic bags."
Resident Tony Hardee told the council Monday he collected 204 signatures from people who oppose banning plastic bags. He added that the survey was confusing, and it did not include an option for the status quo.
Some residents stated the survey was biased toward banning plastic bags because of the way it was worded.
"There should have been 'leave as-is' options added if you wanted to get a good representation of voter beliefs!" one resident stated.
"Let the marketplace work! Is there not more important matters for city?" one resident asked.
Another resident stated, "For years and years, Europeans have had to provide their own bags. We need to stop the waste!"
The city distributed almost 9,000 surveys with water bills, asking residents how they felt about banning or requiring businesses to charge for plastic or paper bags. There were 688 responses. The survey and a public workshop Tuesday were the first steps the council has made toward the ban. The council took no action at the workshop.
Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Fisher said Brownsville successfully banned plastic bags last year, and he was surprised by the number of Rockport residents who supported a local ban. He blamed visitors for the bags blowing throughout town. The money made from selling reusable bags could be used in a cleanup effort, he said.
Councilwoman Adelaide Marlatt disagreed with Fisher on where the trash originates. She said the trash begins with haulers in town that don't cover their trailers. Marlatt pushed for litter law enforcement.
A plastic shopping bag ban also has been discussed by Corpus Christi city officials this month after residents called for the ban. Beeville considered a ban in 2009 but never voted on an ordinance.
In Rockport, one resident surveyed told the city to fine people who litter instead of making everyone responsible.
"We shouldn't be charged because you're not making people pay for trashing the place," the resident wrote. "I'll end up doing my shopping in another town if I have to pay for bags."
Another resident suggested the city implement a "bag awareness" initiative.
Still, others were concerned about the environment. "Birds should be in the trees," one wrote, "not plastic bags."
Resident Tony Hardee told the council Monday he collected 204 signatures from people who oppose banning plastic bags. He added that the survey was confusing, and it did not include an option for the status quo.
Some residents stated the survey was biased toward banning plastic bags because of the way it was worded.
"There should have been 'leave as-is' options added if you wanted to get a good representation of voter beliefs!" one resident stated.
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