Okay I'm going to have my rant.
Plastic was not invented for.us to throw in hedge rows and the sea. Government chose to send to countries that dispose in the sea, general public choose to throw in the hedge then complain it doesn't degrade. Therfore what we are saying is that we want a product that we can dispose of irresponsibly because we can't be arsed to do it properly.
A paper bag produces 4 times the amount of CO2 than a plastic bag. In the UK councils in general do not collect polythene for recycling because it is too light and therefore does not make enough money, the government is going to enforce from 2026?, whereas they would collect paper. The polythene was a much lighter product and far more per vehicle could be transported than the paper alternative and therefore reducing the amount of vehicles on the road. When polythene packaging is used rather than cardboard boxes the CO2 saving is even higher and the Amazon vehicle would be able to fit even more crap in, so again less vehicles.
Polythene can be collected to recycle into other products, not necessarily another bag but garden furniture, children's playground equipment and other stuff. Heavier duty bags get reused over and over again to take garden waste etc to tips. If not suitable fro recycling it can be used for generating energy and producing hydrogen. Ineos is doing this.
Plastic was introduced when the world population was less than is currently is and consumerism was just a fraction of it's current extreme. When governments started to restrict the use of polythene bags for shopping the use of paper and cardboard increased dramatically. The paper and cardboard is produced by cutting down trees and we now need more and more of them. From someone I know in the industry told me they do not have enough and are cutting down diverse forests to plant single species trees that grow quickly but are destroying the environment and wildlife. Does anyone remember the palm oil debacle and the orangutan loss of habitat. Well it's going to be that and on a bigger scale to replace polythene.
When you are giving a plastic straw are you recommended to dispose in the sea.for turtles to stick up their nose? No,.we put in bin or recycle where available.
Biodegradable is pure evil and designed to deceive the general public. The plastic still exists in the soil and damages it if used by farmers on an industrial scale or it gets in the water. You can't compost at home, it need the hot compost by mass production but they will not accept as it isn't know whether it's degradable or not so can cause bulk landfill of organic matter. The Biodegradable from organic produced plastic is still plastic and just breaks down into smaller particles and has been found to harm internal organs in mice. If you use Biodegradable plastic it cannot be recycled and if it contaminates the recycling it all ends up in landfill or energy production when it could have produced new polythene bags.
If your bags have Biodegradable in them then they can't store product for long. All those bags used over and over again will disintegrate. Some companies pay for additives that make the polythene last longe, so it would be a disaster for them.
Use paper and your CO2 footprint will be much higher and the environmentwillbe destroyed. Use plastic, recycle or dispose of responsibily. We will still have issues but you need to look into everything and make an informed decision rather than jumping onto the latest bandwagon.
I can go on but the wife is shouting for me to do some work
