Plastic-Bags - Revised-Household-Version Final
Plastic-Bags - Revised-Household-Version Final
Plastic-Bags - Revised-Household-Version Final
The problem
Impact of plastic bags on the
environment
Natural resources
Plastics are made from nonrenewable natural resources such as
crude oil, gas and coal. Just 8.7
checkout bags contain enough
embodied petroleum energy to drive a
car 1km.2
Persistence in the environment
Non-biodegradable plastics bags can
last in the environment for up to
1,000 years.
Litter
Landscapes littered with plastic bags
are hazardous to wildlife and visually
unattractive. Whats more, because
plastic bags last so long, every year
the number of plastic bags littering
the environment are accumulating.
Plastic bags are lightweight and
moisture resistant which means they
float easily in air and water, often
travelling long distances.
It is estimated that a total of between
50 and 80 million bags enter the
Australian environment as litter every
year.2 Unless they are collected, they
stay there. If 80 million plastic bags
were made into a single plastic
sheet, it would cover 16 square
kilometres. Each side of the plastic
sheet would be 4km long and it
would be big enough to cover the
Melbourne CBD.
Clean up costs
It has been estimated that it costs
governments, businesses and
community groups over $4 million
per annum to clean up littered plastic
shopping bags.2
Marine life
There are approximately 46,000
pieces of plastic floating in each
square mile of our oceans. It is
estimated that plastic kills up to
Saying NO is easy
In response to the plastic bag problem, Clean Up Australia
developed Say NO to Plastic Bags - a National Plastic Bag
Action and Awareness campaign.
The Campaign
Clean Up Australia is committed to
getting rid of lightweight plastic
shopping bags.
Saying NO to Plastic Bags brings
individuals, community, business,
government and environment groups
together to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse
and Recycle plastic bags.
By the end of 2005 participating
retailers committed to reducing the
number of plastic bags used by 50%.
Supermarkets achieved a 41%
reduction in use of plastic bags.
Overall, a reduction of 34% from 2002
to 2005 saved 2 billion bags from
being produced.1
Reduce
Count the number of plastic bags
you use and aim to reduce that
number each week.
Avoid putting items that already
have handles, eg. dog food and
nappies, into plastic bags.
Avoid using small plastic bags as
bin liners. Simply put your rubbish
straight into your household bin
and give the bin a quick rinse
afterwards then reuse the water on
your garden
Reuse
Reuse plastic bags at home for:
freezing food, packing children's
school lunches, storage of clothing
and other household items.
Keep a spare reusable shopping
bag in your handbag or wallet for
those times when you thought you
would not need a bag, but did.
Recycle
It is estimated that in 2001-02,
approximately 180 million bags or
1,000 tonnes, were recycled. This
represents only 2.7% of all plastic
shopping bags.2 Help us to increase
that rate by:
Finding a local supermarket that
offers recycling facilities for plastic
supermarket bags and taking your
used plastic bags back for
recycling the next time you go
shopping.
Returning unwanted plastic bags to
the driver for recycling if you have
your shopping delivered.
Turning bags inside out and
removing any receipts and food
scraps before recycling.
Contamination can cause
problems in production and
prevent recycled plastic from being
used.
Approaching your local council to
see if they have plans to include
plastic bags in kerbside recycling.
Remember, if your council does
not provide plastic bag recycling,
dont put plastic bags in with your
normal recycling; it can cause
major problems in processing.
References
1
Environment Australia,
Plastic Shopping Bags- Analysis of
Levies and Environmental Impacts
(Nolan ITU, 2002)
www.deh.gov.au/industry/waste/plasticbags/bags-analysis.html
3
EcoRecycle
www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au
6