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Charging More For Carrier Bags. Does It Really Help Minimise Plastic Pollution?

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Watching all the recent TV documentaries about plastic pollution in the oceans and seeing lovely sea-creatures being ensnared and choking /drowning to death, I completely agree that we need to drastically reduce our use of  plastic bags, but I wonder if we are going about it it the right way. When they were free of charge,  I always used to use my supermarket carrier bags as bin-liners for my pedal bin, but since they've started charging for carrier bags, I  use my own bags to do my shopping - but then I buy bin-liners for my pedal bin....which are also plastic bags! I therefore feel that I'm not using any less plastic bags.....I'm just paying a bit more for the ones that I do use !

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43 minutes ago, FIRETHORN1 said:

Watching all the recent TV documentaries about plastic pollution in the oceans and seeing lovely sea-creatures being ensnared and choking /drowning to death, I completely agree that we need to drastically reduce our use of  plastic bags, but I wonder if we are going about it it the right way. When they were free of charge,  I always used to use my supermarket carrier bags as bin-liners for my pedal bin, but since they've started charging for carrier bags, I  use my own bags to do my shopping - but then I buy bin-liners for my pedal bin....which are also plastic bags! I therefore feel that I'm not using any less plastic bags.....I'm just paying a bit more for the ones that I do use !

I've also watched the television documentaries, and it's shocking, something must be done to solve this plastic problem..

Supermarket carrier bags is just the tip of the iceberg, the way things are going there will be nothing in the seas in a few years time.

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1 hour ago, Padders said:

I've also watched the television documentaries, and it's shocking, something must be done to solve this plastic problem..    Supermarket carrier bags is just the tip of the iceberg, the way things are going there will be nothing in the seas in a few years time.

There is plastic in the oceans and everywhere, which is not natural, but is it a problem?

It can be a problem when animals get trapped, but it doesnt appear to be toxic.

Acidification of the ocean is a problem, a growing problem.

 

Ocean acidification is already impacting many ocean species, especially organisms like oysters and corals that make hard shells and skeletons by combining calcium and carbonate from seawater. However, as ocean acidification increases, available carbonate ions (CO32-) bond with excess hydrogen, resulting in fewer carbonate ions available for calcifying organisms to build and maintain their shells, skeletons, and other calcium carbonate structures. If the pH gets too low, shells and skeletons can even begin to dissolve.

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification

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Looks like single use bags in supermarkets have fallen from 7.5 billion a year to 560 million a year in the years since the charge came in.

Thats got to be a positive

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The problems with plastic will never be stopped until companies stop manufacturing virgin plastic items. There is enough plastic already in existence, it should be reprocessed and re-used.

 

Unfortunately it is not a level playing field at the moment. There are many more UK companies exporting used plastic across the world to places like Malaysia than there are reprocessors.  They get the same £ per tonne but reprocessors need factories, land, machinery and workforce. An exporter just needs a list of contacts and a computer.

 

In Q2 this year the accredited companies exported  203,005 tonnes of plastic packaging waste but only reprocessed 111,823 tonnes.

 

We should be encouraging more reprocessing and less exporting.

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3 hours ago, butlers said:

Looks like single use bags in supermarkets have fallen from 7.5 billion a year to 560 million a year in the years since the charge came in.

Thats got to be a positive

It is a posative, it has made people think.

 

I probably use 2 plastic dog poo bags every day, there are just less than 10 million dog owners in the UK.

So that is roughly 7,300,000,000 per year in the UK alone, assuming one dog each; also assuming every picks up  :)

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We often hear about the amounts of plastic in the oceans. There is no excuse for it, in the same way there is no excuse for throwing litter down in the street.

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I think the Best solution would be to Start using Expanding Sisal STRING Bags, like we used to Have, 

 

I might start making them for a reasonable Price like £9. 50 each

I'm sure they are made like Macrame...

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6 hours ago, Janus said:

We often hear about the amounts of plastic in the oceans. There is no excuse for it, in the same way there is no excuse for throwing litter down in the street.

Yes.

The problem is NOT plastic bags; they're far better and longer-lasting than paper.

Instead, the problem is people who leave their rubbish behind in plastic bags or just let these blow away.

Put your rubbish in a bin or, failing that, TAKE IT HOME if at all possible.

Don't blame the bags- it's those people who despoil the sea and cause animals to suffer.

Edited by Jeffrey Shaw

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52 minutes ago, Jeffrey Shaw said:

The problem is NOT plastic bags; they're far better and longer-lasting than paper.

Instead, the problem is people who leave their rubbish behind in plastic bags or just let these blow away.

Put your rubbish in a bin or, failing that, TAKE IT HOME if at all possible.

Don't blame the bags- it's those people who despoil the sea and cause animals to suffer.

Its a worldwide problem and its being getting worse for decades, but the problem is not carrier bags.

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Meanwhile major oil companies want to ramp up production of virgin plastic to help compensate them for more electric vehicles and demands for cleaner energy.

 

They don't mind drowning the world in plastic as log as they can continue making their trillions.

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