I read an interesting article by SITA who is a major recycling and waste disposal business. They find that plastic bags cause many problems in recycling but that they are relatively benign in landfills - so long as they do end up in landfills. Left around as litter they cause enormous problems to wildlife.

SITS feel that the they are not nearly so significant a problem as degradable organic waste which generates methane and contribute to climate change., particularly in older land fills without gas capture.

They suggest a levy for the bags at supermarkets to act as an incentive to people to remember to bring their re-usable bags. Let’s be realistic there are times when the most dedicated environmentalist needs to dash into a shop and buy things when the bags are not with them.

Unless they go to an alternative waste treatment facility where there is aerobic digestion, biodegradable bags are apparently not the answer because they are carbon based and they end up emitting methane.

I remember to take my bags 95% of the time but sometime forget even though the back of my car sometimes seems to be overrun with green cloth bags. I have one bag that the others are all supposed to be stored in but they seem to escape and take over the back of my car at times!

Technorati Tags: domestic waste, waste, reducing litter, litter, SITA, recycling, waste disposal, plastic bags,   green cloth bags

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 5:52 am and is filed under Waste management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.