TORONTO – Toronto’s plastic bags have been banned by city council on the grounds that they are bad for the environment; however, according to past studies, their reusable counterpart may not have a better environmental track record when you look at the fine print.
A study from 2007, done by the Progressive Bag Alliance who lobby for the use of recycling plastic shopping bags rather than banning them, said that single use plastic bags made from polyethylene, the synthetic resin used to make plastic bags, have lower environmental impact than both compostable plastic bags and paper bags made with a minimum of 30 per cent recycled fibre.
“When compared to 30% recycled fibre paper bags, polyethylene grocery bags use less energy in terms of fuels for manufacturing, less oil, and less potable water. In addition, polyethylene plastic grocery bags emit fewer global warming gases, less acid rain emissions, and less solid wastes,” read the study.
The study, which was funded by U.S. bag manufactures, found that the same trend existed when comparing plastic grocery bags to those made with compostable plastic resins.
Don Dewees, a University of Toronto economics and law professor, said the decision to scrap plastic bags all together strikes him as an overreaction.
“There is so little plastic in plastic bags that we are not saving much petroleum by not using them and we are not saving much landfill space. Plastic shopping bags weigh around five grams each – so 200 bags to a kilogram. This is less than one per cent of the weight of the waste a household throws out,” said Dewees.
Dewees said he felt that the motion to completely ban plastic bags, instead of charging a five-cent fee per bag, would be to cut down on litter in the city and not may not necessarily help Toronto’s environment.
“If making plastic bags releases six kilograms of CO2 for every kilogram of plastic bags, then a five-cent charge for plastic bags based solely on CO2 implies that CO2 reduction is worth $1,666 per tonne. This 50 times what anyone serious is talking about for reducing CO2,” said Dewees, who said his personal choice is carrying around reusable bags.
However, a second study by the Environment Agency in England, completed in 2006, found that reusable cotton bags had to be used at least 131 times to ensure that they had lower global warming potential than plastic bags.
The study also stated that bags made from starch-polyester materials have a high global warming impact than plastic due to the increased weight of material used and material production in the bags.
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