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1) Pros & Cons of Plastic

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All bags have an impact on the environment. As well as using energy and other resources in their production, there are environmental impacts when the bag is disposed of.

This page outlines the pros and cons of different bag types as alternatives to single-use plastic shopping bags. Bags made of a single material are often preferable over bags made from multiple materials. This is because they are easier to recycle or compost and take less resources to make.

Reusable bags with 100% recycled content - polypropylene or recycled polyethylene terephthalate (eg, drink containers)

This is the best option

* Pros: One of the lowest environmental impacts, durable, strong.
* Cons: May be more expensive than new (virgin plastic material bags).

Tip: where possible consider offering a take-back scheme for bags and recycling them into new bags.

Woven and non-woven polypropylene

* Pros: durable, strong
* Cons: needs fossil-fuel based plastic to manufacture

Tip: Look for bags with recycled plastic content to reduce environmental impact.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reusable bag

* Pros: durable, strong
* Cons: sometimes includes composite materials making it harder to process if recycled

Tip: Look for bags with recycled plastic content to reduce environmental impact.

Recycled fabric bags

* Pros: Reuses existing resources, light and compact, easy to wash
* Cons: quality of bag may vary depending on how well it is made

Tip: May work well for a bag share scheme (eg, boomerang bags).

Jute or hessian

* Pros: durable, strong, jute needs little water for cultivation
* Cons: may be lined with other materials or have cotton handles which makes it harder to process if recycled and may require more resources in production, may not perform well in wet weather.

Tip: Try to avoid bags with plastic liners as these often break up and make the bag hard to recycle or compost.

Cotton (tote style)

* Pros: durable, light and compact, easy to wash
* Cons: needs a lot of resources (energy, water) to manufacture, typically needs pesticides in the manufacturing process unless explicitly stated as being 'organic cotton'.

Tips: Need to be reused 130+ times to make the environmental impact lower than single-use plastic bags. Try to avoid bags with plastic liners as these often break up and make the bag hard to recycle or compost.

Cotton/hemp string bag

* Pros: Light and compact, easy to wash, easy to carry
* Cons: Cotton needs a lot of energy and water to manufacture, not suitable for smaller items.

Tip: If choosing a string bag, hemp may be better than cotton as it requires less energy to cultivate.

Paper

* Pros: light, accessible, easy to carry
* Cons: high carbon footprint, uses a lot of resources (eg, wood, chemicals, energy and water)

Tips: Choose unbleached over bleached. Look for recycled content.

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Environmental pros and cons of alternatives to single-use plastic shopping bags

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All bags have an impact on the environment. As well as using energy and other resources in their production, there are environmental impacts when the bag is disposed of. This page outlines the pros and cons of different bag types as alternatives to single-use plastic shopping bags.

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2)Single-Use Plastics 101

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What Are Single-Use Plastics?

Put simply, single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use-often, in mere minutes. Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

Though plastic-a chain of synthetic polymers, essentially-was invented in the mid-19th century, it wasn't until the 1970s that its popularity skyrocketed. Manufacturers began replacing traditionally paper or glass staples with lighter or more durable and affordable plastic alternatives; plastic jugs replaced milk jars, for instance. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, and half of that in the past 15 years alone.

There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. But these cases make up a small fraction of single-use plastic. According to a 2017 study, more than half of non-fiber plastic, which excludes synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items.

Why Is Single-Use Plastic Bad?

Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. We produce 300 million tons of plastic each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items. That's nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.

Reducing plastic use is the most effective means of avoiding this waste (and the impacts linked to plastic production and use). Carrying reusable bags and bottles is one great way to avoid single-use plastics in our day-to-day lives; more on preventing plastic waste can be found below.

Recycling more plastic, more frequently, reduces its footprint. Polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly recycled plastics and the material that makes up most water and soda bottles, can be turned into everything from polyester fabric to automotive parts. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isn't recycled at all. Instead it ends up in landfills or in the environment. Single-use plastics in particular-especially small items like straws, bags, and cutlery-are traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers.

Left alone, plastics don't really break down; they just break up. Over time, sun and heat slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. These microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5 millimeters long, are hard to detect-and are just about everywhere. Some microplastics are even small by design, like the microbeads used in facial scrubs or the microfibers in polyester clothing. They end up in the water, eaten by wildlife, and inside our bodies. They've even made their way up to the secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animal's body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages.

Single-Use Plastics and Pollution

Although single-use plastic pollution accumulates most visibly on our streets, in fact our water suffers even more. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. Our waterway plastic pollution is particularly concentrated: Just ten rivers carry 93 percent of the world's total amount of plastic that enters the oceans via rivers each year.

In 2015 researchers from the University of Georgia estimated that between 4.8 million and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic per year make their way into the oceans via people living within 30 miles of a coast. The majority of this pollution-dominated by single-use plastic waste-comes from countries lacking infrastructure to properly manage waste, particularly in Asia. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. (It's also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. For instance, a lot of the plastic produced in Asian countries is for products that serve U.S. demand-and the United States often sends plastic waste back to these countries for recycling.)

Marine animals bear the burden of this influx of garbage into their habitats. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but it's also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals' guts.

Our addiction to plastic also has negative impacts on the climate. A recent report showed that plastic production contributes to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions at every point in its life cycle. The process of drilling for plastic's source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring and is often combined with clearing forests and wetlands that otherwise would have sequestered carbon. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gas-intensive industries in the manufacturing sector. And "cracker plants"-which break, or "crack," ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic products-are energy intensive and highly polluting. In 2015 a mere 24 of these ethane cracker facilities in the United States had the combined carbon output of 3.8 million passenger vehicles. And the recent fracking boom, resulting in a surplus of oil, is fueling a subsequent rise in cracker plants, too. That's bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030 -equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plants-even as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent.

Plastic pollution-whether in our oceans, piling up on our coastlines, or contributing to our climate crisis-impacts vulnerable communities first. Even if plastic doesn't end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. But the sheer amount of plastic waste inundates communities until they are drowning under thousands of tons of plastic trash. This is the case particularly in Southeast Asia, which has begun to import much of the plastic that used to go to China for recycling. Not only does the waste destroy the land itself, but when plastic is incinerated (as is the case for unrecyclable plastic at some illegal facilities) its toxic fumes quickly become a health hazard for residents, leading to everything from skin rashes to cancer. Such is the case with many environmental crises: the worst effects are pushed onto overburdened communities with the fewest resources to fight back.

Should We Ban Single-Use Plastics?

Plastic is putting a strain on waste management systems, our oceans, and vulnerable communities the world over. A wave of single-use plastic bans is sweeping the country and the globe-most often on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and takeout clamshells. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. Plastic bag bans-ideally accompanied by a fee on paper bags-are also catching on. New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and California's bag ban, which was passed in 2014, has been shown to have reduced plastic bag usage by 85 percent (with some customers opting to pay a 10 cent fee for thicker plastic bags) and has reduced coastal pollution.

What do the bans accomplish? They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. And when it comes to waste that lasts forever, every ton counts. In New York, 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents each year. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production that's contributing to global climate change. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. And they help shift consumer mind-sets, as people begin to recognize that exorbitant and avoidable waste is not sustainable.

Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. As part of the Break Free From Plastic movement, Greenpeace volunteers conducted an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines, sifting through tens of thousands of individual pieces across 42 countries to identify the pollution's sources. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé products were found most often. Coca-Cola has said that it alone produces three million tons of plastic packaging each year, equivalent to a terrifying 200,000 plastic bottles per minute. Policies like bottle bill laws-which generally require retailers to add a fee on individual bottles, which can then be partially redeemed by customers when they recycle-are a way to increase corporate responsibility for waste while providing a monetary incentive to recycle. In Taiwan, which was once overflowing with so much trash that it spurred public protest and the nickname "Garbage Island," companies now either manage their own waste or subsidize government-run infrastructure. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent.

Some companies are taking initiative on their own. McDonald's swapped its plastic straws for paper at its United Kingdom and Ireland restaurants. Disney is eliminating single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all its theme parks, resorts and properties. And Starbucks, which uses an estimated one billion plastic straws per year, is phasing them out in favor of paper ones. These actions are a response to calls for change and shifting consumer habits.

Avoiding Single-Use Plastics

Individual choices -and the collective shifts they bring about-add up quickly. Making just one simple swap, like purchasing a reusable water bottle, can spare the environment hundreds of plastic bottles each year. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good.

Always pack a reusable bag when shopping. (And yes-reusable totes are better for the environment than plastics, recent media claims aside.)

Cook more often, to reduce your use of plastic-heavy takeout containers.

Buy in bulk. Avoid individually packaged goods, like snack packs.

Though buying online sometimes has a lower carbon footprint than shopping in a store (skip the express delivery option, if you can), online shipments are still chock-full of plastic. Your best bet to reduce your footprint and plastic waste? Walk, bike, or take public transit to buy in-person.

Avoid plastic wrap altogether by storing leftovers in reusable containers. Try reusable and compostable beeswax wrap for an easy and decorative option.

Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. Pack it alongside reusable cutlery (like wood, bamboo, or metal chopsticks) for sustainable eating on the go.

Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags.

Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your city's newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors.

Let companies that make your favorite products know that you care about the packaging. Tweet, call, or send letters to these companies to ask them to switch to more durable, recyclable, compostable, renewable, and/or recycled-content packaging with less fossil fuel-derived plastic.

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Here's everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes.

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3)Banning of Plastic Bags

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The movement against single-use plastics has gained massive momentum in the past decade, with countries, states and local governments enacting bans and taxes on the use of disposable plastic bags, eating utensils and straws. While these developments represent successes for the movement, some states in the United States are enacting a different type of ban: bans on banning single-use plastics. Through preemption, these laws remove local regulatory power and are often passed by state legislatures after a local government has instituted a tax on a single-use plastic item. For more than two years, these "ban bans" have been on the books in Michigan, Idaho, Missouri, Arizona, Wisconsin, Indiana and Florida. More recently, similar laws took effect in Minnesota, Iowa and Mississippi. All of the states that have adopted such bans so far have Republican-controlled legislatures.

These "ban bans" disregard the countries, states and cities where efforts to move away from single-use plastics have been largely successful. In Ireland, one of the first places to adopt a nationwide bag tax, businesses and consumers adapted quickly and cloth alternatives became nearly ubiquitous within a year. Feargal Quinn, a former Irish senator and the founder of the supermarket chain Superquinn, initially opposed the tax, but in a 2008 interview with The New York Times, he said he now encourages other nations to adopt similar policies. Since Washington, D.C., implemented a 5-cent tax on paper and plastic bags, their use has declined by 85 percent. Jurisdictions in Canada, China, California, Washington and Massachusetts with similar policies have seen large declines as well. More recently, Chile announced that its ban on the use of plastic bags in coastal cities will be extended nationwide in the coming months, and the Kenyan government instituted a plastic bag ban, spurred to do so by a social media campaign. The effects of these policies will become apparent over the next several years.

This is not to say that these governments did not face initial resistance. In 2008, the American Chemistry Council, an advocate for the plastics industry, spent $1.4 million to defeat the Seattle City Council's first attempt to regulate disposable plastic and paper bags. A revised proposal was passed in 2011 which allowed for the continued use of paper bags for a minimum of 5 cents each, to be retained by the retailer to cover the cost of providing the bag. Despite successful policies in other states, support for a "ban ban" in Michigan came primarily from retailers and grocers concerned that consumers would not adjust, or that complying to new regulations would prove complicated and costly. The resulting legislation, signed by Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley in 2016, prevents localities from taxing or banning plastic bags and containers, preempting the bag tax that Washtenaw County planned to implement the following year. Idaho state representative Clark Kauffman lauded his state's plastic-protecting policy in an op-ed as business-friendly, citing the importance of the plastic industry to Idaho's economy. Retailers and grocers in Laredo, Texas, represented by the Laredo Merchants Association, sued their city, claiming that a state law governing "solid waste management" preempted a local bag ban. In January 2017, the Texas Supreme Court agreed with the Association's interpretation, striking down a ban and prompting Austin and other local governments to stop enforcing their single-use plastics regulations.

While legal challenges have stymied efforts to reduce single-use plastics consumption in many states, consumer opposition to plastics has triggered policy changes from companies like Starbucks, American Airlines, Disney, and Ikea. These companies, along with hotel giants Hilton and Hyatt, have announced that they are ditching plastic straws and moving away from single-use plastic products. After testing paper straws in the United Kingdom, McDonald's announced that it will expand the use of this alternative to some of its American locations. Still, companies have been clear that policies governing plastics must allow them time to transition and implement alternatives. After the Indian state of Maharashtra announced a far-reaching ban on single-use plastics, multinational companies like Amazon and Pepsi, both with significant operations in the state, implored the government to add exemptions and extend deadlines, citing the difficulties and costs-both monetary and environmental-associated with forced, rapid changes to their production processes.

Opponents of bans or fees on single-use plastics have argued that reusable bags are actually worse for the environment. In 2011, the United Kingdom's Environment Agency released a report comparing the global warming impacts of several types of single-use and reusable grocery bags. The findings lend credence to claims that reusable bags are not a perfect solution: two of the most common reusable bag types, made from non-woven polypropylene and cotton, must be used 11 and 131 times, respectively, to ensure their global warming impacts are less than that of traditional, single-use high density polyethylene grocery bags. If the high density polyethylene bag is reused once at a store or as a trash bin liner, the non-woven polypropylene and cotton bags must be used 14 and 173 times, respectively. Still, the impact on global warming may not be the principal metric that people and governments will want to consider, instead focusing on the unsightly pollution and threat to aquatic life and sewer systems that single-use bags represent.

Better, more widespread recycling is sometimes viewed as the solution to the spread of single-use plastics. This approach depends heavily on two interrelated factors: the development of sufficient, reliable recycling infrastructure; and consumer behavior that supports recycling efforts and rewards companies for changing their practices. Investment in domestic recycling infrastructure is critical, especially given China's announcement last year that it will no longer accept plastic waste from other countries. Developing the capacity to recycle plastics domestically grows increasingly critical as foreign markets for U.S. plastic waste disappear and become less lucrative. To make domestic recycling more economically viable, consumers may need to take steps to reduce contamination and adapt to new sorting procedures to lower costs for recycling companies. In addition, there will need to be demand for goods made from recycled materials and non-plastic alternatives. Plastics are made from a variety of polymers with different uses and properties, which poses additional challenges to recycling operations. Technological advances in sorting and breaking down these plastics may help overcome these hurdles.

Perhaps, after all, the best way to deal with this type of waste is to reduce it. Countries are scrambling to find new outlets for their discarded plastics, but to little or no avail, and infrastructural changes to increase recycling capacity domestically may not come quickly. Plastics were a revolutionary invention and their versatility means they have become integral to our way of life, but they do not come without a cost.
Author: Clayton Coleman

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Bans on Banning Bags: The Movement to End Single-Use Plastics Faces Significant Obstacles

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The movement against single-use plastics has gained massive momentum in the past decade, with countries, states and local governments enacting bans and taxes on the use of disposable plastic bags, eating utensils and straws. While these developments represent successes for the movement, some states in the United States are enacting a different type of ban: bans on banning single-use plastics.

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4)Climate Change

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Single-use plastics a serious climate change hazard, study warns

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Production must end now, says first ever estimate of plastic’s cradle-to-grave impact

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5)Pros of Plastic

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6)Where plastic is banned

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7)Plastic

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8)Reasons To Ban Plastic

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9)Plastic Waste

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10)Landfill of Bottles

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11)Plastic Pollution(Animals)

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12)Plastic Pollution(Plastics & Environment)

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Plastic Pollution: How Humans are Turning the World into Plastic