Mario Tabone, Valletta
Some plastic bags greener than paper
What we all know:
People are part of nature and it is of major importance for us is to keep the world clean and healthy. As our society becomes more and more consumer-orientated this causes a serious problem - the volume of generated waste permanently increases. A large part of it comes from packaging, not from the products themselves.
What most of us don't know:
One of the most common ideas is that paper bags should take the place of plastic ones. Most people, in fact, have the misconception of referring to all bags made of plastic as simply "plastic bags". This is not correct.
Modern technology has made it possible to produce these bags in degradable and bio-degradable polyethylene which is guaranteed to disintegrate or to revert to compost within a couple months of being exposed to the elements. Hence a definite distinction must be made between a "harmful plastic bag" and an "eco-friendly polyethylene bag".
Here are just a few logical facts which incidentally are also confirmed and accepted by international pro-environment organisations:
• A paper bag is about five times heavier than a polyethylene one and therefore paper bags require larger storage space and generate a bigger waste volume. This is a very important negative factor indeed, as nowadays storage is rather costly and places for waste-sweeping and conservation hard to come by.
• For the production of polyethylene packaging, 50 per cent less energy resources are required as compared to paper. That means less indirect pollution from power stations.
• Easy tearing and low tolerance of humidity do not permit use of paper bags in all spheres of application.
• The increased consumption of paper has always been associated with chopping down of tropical forests - the lungs of the planet.
• Polyethylene bags do not excrete injurious substances and do not pollute nature chemically. Water-soluble emissions from the solving of paper bags are 94 per cent higher than from polyethylene ones.
• Polyethylene bags allow multi-usage, to the contrary of paper. Even the smallest polyethylene bag could be used for garbage collection in the office or at home.
• Apart from just bags, polyethylene can be compressed in transport. Unlike paper and cardboard, this makes it possible to fit a larger volume inside trailers and containers, consequently reaping lower transportation costs and having less of those noisy, fuel-thirsty and polluting lorries on our roads.
So let us not be prejudiced and tread cautiously before imposing any directives, without distinction and across the board, on all "plastic" bags, irrespective of whether they are eco-friendly and not. Trying to eradicate this form of packaging without properly educating ourselves and evaluating the real consequences beforehand would just be leaving the packaging industry with no option but to opt for paper, at a much higher cost, both economically and physically. Such added costs will eventually be borne by the consumer.
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Mary Jones
Dec 1st 2008, 23:10
Ordinary or recycled plastic will lie or float around in the environment for decades, but it can now be made oxo-biodegradable.
This is done by including d2w additive (see www.biodeg.org) which makes it degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues. Oxo-bio can be tested according to American Standard 6954, and is certified safe for food-contact. It is made from a by-product of oil refining which used to be wasted, so nobody is importing extra oil to make it. It can be recycled, and made from recyclate, and there is little or no additional cost.
“Compostable” plastics are too expensive for everyday use, and there are very few composting facilities. Also, they damage the recycling process if they get into in a normal plastic recycling waste stream.
Charles DeMicoli
Nov 27th 2008, 14:12
Any form of fee or "eco tax" is just another excuse for the government to put their hands in our pockets. What are the monies collected from the "eco tax" applied to anyway?
The solution is personal responsibility on how to dispose of the plastic bags (and bottles, etc.).
As far as energy and resourses used in the manufacturing, storing, transport, disposal and recycling, plastic bags have a major advantage, adding also the flexiblity and durability of carrying heavy, damp, leaky, bulky, oddly shaped goods in plastic bags.
Els Serracino Inglott
Nov 27th 2008, 12:16
I do not totally agree with Mr Tabone.
1) Mr Tabone mentions that use of paper has always been associated with chopping down tropical forests. This argument is flawed. Whereas some years ago paper was mainly made from wood, nowadays many paperbags are made from recycled material. Furthermore, it weren't the tropical forests chopped down for paper but mainly for furniture.
2) Even if polyethylene bags do not excrete injurious substances and do not pollute nature chemically, they still lie about in the environment where they can be eaten by animals, or where animals can get entangled in them.
3) No one ever suggested to replace all that's plastic one-on-one with paper. I do agree with some of the arguments Mr Tabone gives. What everyone can do himself, is to go shopping with a foldable box, coton bags, etc. The use of plastic bags needs to be reduced, one way or another.
4) It is possible to re-use paper bags
I agree that taxing the plastic bags is questionable: it would be better to ban the use of certain plastic bags completely and then I mainly refer to the ones that supermarkets hand out by the dozens.
R. Azzopardi
Nov 27th 2008, 12:10
I was amongst the first people to applaud the government for introducing a tax on plastic bags, however, after reading this, I'm getting second thoughts. Well done Mr. Tabone. You've certainly done your research.
H Dempster
Nov 27th 2008, 11:25
This increase in the eco tax on plastic bags definitly has nothing to do with enviroment and it is just another mode to finance the mismanagment of some cooperation. In France, Germany and Luxemburg they do charge a fee for plastic bags , but only a miserly 3 c. I cannot understand our Maltese mentality as always be have to be holier then the pope and do thing different from our supposedly european big bros.
frank grech
Nov 27th 2008, 10:37
Prosit Mario Tabone, you seem very well informed about this matter ie polyethylene bags.
But it seems that the government DOES need the 15 cent tax on all plastic bags, contrary to what the finance minister said in the budget speech!!!!!