{"id":358,"date":"2011-06-10T18:15:22","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T18:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.japhethlim.com\/?p=358"},"modified":"2016-10-20T17:30:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:30:49","slug":"plastic-state-of-mind-when-will-we-end-our-plastic-bags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.japhethlim.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/10\/plastic-state-of-mind-when-will-we-end-our-plastic-bags\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic State of Mind – When will we end our Plastic Bags?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Written by Randolph S. Jeremiah, Environmental Protection Society, Malaysia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plastic bag was only introduced in the 1970\u2019s but its use has expanded due to its high\u00a0versatility. The plastic bag is an efficient way to carry goods. It is hygienic, light in weight yet\u00a0considerably strong. Plastic bags can be easily produced and made into different forms, shapes,\u00a0sizes and colours. \u00a0Plastic bags are made from both natural gas and petroleum. In total, the production of plastics\u00a0accounts for only 4% of world oil consumption2. An even less amount of this is used for the\u00a0production of plastic bags. <\/strong>In terms of its energy, it takes 0.48 megajoules (MJ) to produce one\u00a0high-density polyethene (HDPE) plastic bag3.<\/p>\n

Taking into account its energy consumption, about 1 square meter of natural land is required to\u00a0absorb the greenhouse gases generated from the production of about 14 HDPE bags. <\/strong>Each year, over 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide<\/strong>. We would need to set aside a\u00a0natural area almost the size of the state of Sabah just to absorb the greenhouse gases generated\u00a0from the production of all these plastic bags.\u00a0Although plastics can be recycled and reused over again, the facilities that are required to sort and\u00a0process the various types of plastics separately are neither available nor economical.<\/p>\n

As such, the\u00a0recycling of plastic bags is still very low and not yet a practical option in Malaysia. Even the use\u00a0of paper bags is not a better environmental solution. In fact, the production of paper bags uses\u00a060% more resources and energy that plastic bags and produces 80% more solid waste5.\u00a0The impact of plastic bags, however, goes beyond the resources and energy consumed during its\u00a0production<\/strong>. Plastic bags that are disposed of in garbage end up in dumps and landfills. It can take up\u00a0to 1000 years for plastic bags to degrade and \u00a0breakdown completely. Plastic bags that are\u00a0improperly disposed of can clog waterways and contribute towards floods.<\/p>\n

Bags that make it to the\u00a0ocean are harmful to marine life. Turtles often choke on plastic bags after mistaking the floating\u00a0debris for food. In addition, plastic bag litter incurs an often less visible but high clean-up and\u00a0disposal cost which inflates its overall Footprint.\u00a0It may be difficult to completely remove plastic bags usage from our life and reduce its Footprint.\u00a0However, we can manage this very useful \u00a0product by following a common rule of reducing,\u00a0reusing and if possible, recycling. Reduce the usage of plastic bags by making a habit of carrying\u00a0a more durable bag when shopping. This bag could be made out of stronger plastic material or\u00a0can be a simple cotton bag. Using a reusable bag over a year consumes 10 times less energy<\/strong> than\u00a0using disposable plastic bags.<\/p>\n

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Today, we hear a lot of new innovative inventions, people trying all kind of possible materials to ensure a plastic bag is biodegradable or reusable.<\/p>\n

Generally, a simple information on how to know if one is Biodegradable. Biodegradable\/degradable plastics can be made from many different sources and materials as listed below:<\/strong><\/p>\n