This page contains stories and links illustrating the scale of the problem and the sometimes lamentably slow progress towards solving it. As more and more people become aware of the problems, and more and more shoppers do use their own long-life bags, why are so many governments and stores, small and large, so loath to take action?
US and UK citizens are world’s biggest sources of plastic waste – study, The Guardian, October 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/30/us-and-uk-citizens-are-worlds-biggest-sources-of-plastic-waste-study
Plastic bag use rises yet again, July 2014, for the 4th year running. And still our Government seems reluctant to tackle the problem comprehesively and consistently, in accordance with all the best advice it's had. See the latest press release from the Break the Bag Habit coalition.
MCS Beachwatch results out: Plastic pieces are once again a real issue - these are tiny bits of plastic that have broken off larger items or have been in the sea for possibly decades, becoming smaller and smaller and more dangerous to marine wildlife. See http://www.mcsuk.org/what_we_do/Clean+seas+and+beaches/Reports+and+downloads/Beachwatch+results+2013 (March 2104)
Ministers' failure to act on plastic bag pledge condemned by campaigners
Environment minister Richard Benyon promised the government would make a decision in 2012 on a bag charge in England The government has failed to act on a promise to tackle the waste caused by the billions of plastic bags sold every year in England, with ministers accused by campaigners of "kicking the issue into the long grass". (The Guardian, January 2013)
One-third of fish caught in Channel have plastic contamination, study shows
Fish were found to contain small pieces of plastic known as 'microbeads', in a study of 10 species, The Guardian, 24/1/13
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/fish-channel-plastic-contamination
Ecovision Hong Kong carries out an annual clean-up and publishes a detailed report every year after the Cleanup season. The 2012 report found that: "Just plastic bags and bottles together comprised over 24% of all the trash collected this year. - In the City cleanup, cigarette butts represented 42.1% of the total trash collected... We invite you to download the Report and Media Clippings to learn more about the 2012 Hong Kong Cleanup..."
Four hundred million more plastic bags were handed out by supermarkets last year as the campaign to reduce their use went backwards, official figures from the waste reduction body Wrap showed yesterday. (The Independent, 6/7/12)
Our comment: "The better news is that the Welsh levy on plastic bags is really working - isn't it about time England followed suit?"
Darren Johnson, Green Party, London Assembly, tables a question to Boris Johnson on Olympics - if not plastic bag free, why not? 15 March, 2012, news from Darren Johnson: London 2012 Olympics won't be plastic bag free. Despite a commitment to a “zero-waste Games” shops and suppliers at the Games will be able to hand out plastic bags to visitors.
Guardian Weekly article, Feb 2012, on the world's slowness to get to grips with recycling plastics at http://e-voice.org.uk/greenerkingston/assets/images/guardian-article-on-plastic-re.
December 2011 - Watch Greener upon Thames' latest video "Bagging Boris" at http://vimeo.com/33185516
Plastic bag use on the rise after years of decline
Between 2006 and 2009 carrier bag use was down by 40% but in 2010 the downward trend was reversed
Guardian, Thursday 28 July 2011
Our comment: "Disappointing news, but the one good thing about it is that at last the Government might realise that voluntary action is not enough to change the wasteful bag habits of retailers and shoppers."
Scampi food scare as plastic is found in stomachs of sea creatures caught in Britain, Daily Mail, April 2011. "The majority of the scampi caught in one of Britain's busiest fishing grounds were found to have harmful plastic lodged in their stomachs, scientists have claimed...The plastic came from a variety of sources including polythene bags and waste thrown overboard from yachts.
The plastic found in a single turtle's stomach: Hundreds of shards reveal the threat to wildlife from debris floating in our seas.
The Independent, 24/3/11
Greener Kingston comment: "Complete with picture of a turtle's stomach contents, this article illustrates just one of the reasons we continue to oppose the use of wasteful polluting plastic bags and other throwaway plastics."
UK plastic bag use on the rise
Plastic bag use is increasing in the UK, while Ireland's tax on bags has had dramatic success, The Guardian, 17/1/11.
Greener Kingston comment: "Few surprises here - taxes and levies are really effective, voluntary reduction much less so. The only surprise is that successive governments seem to find this so hard to understand and act on - or maybe they just don't care?"
Going for Green?
An October 2010 GLA report warned there was still much work to do if the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were to meet the environmental promises made by organisers, Why not register and post a comment about ways they could keep their promises? Green Kingston has suggested that "One easy green win would be for the London Olympics to be plastic-bag-free. It would cost very little, save a huge amount of litter and pollution, and set a great example to the world."
Supermarkets lose heart in green war on plastic carrier bags, Independent on Sunday, 22/8/10
Campaigners call for legislation as retailers fail to meet targets to cut one of the most visible signs of waste. Britain's biggest supermarket chains will come under fire this week for handing out tens of millions more carrier bags than last year, derailing attempts to reduce the environmental impact from billions of disposable bags. New figures will show that the industry missed its target of halving the number of plastic bags used in 2006 for the second consecutive year.
Our comment: "No store is confident enough of its market share or green enough to take action on its own, so the only way to get them to stop giving away so many plastic bags is to legislate either to ban them or to impose a sufficiently deterrent levy, say 50p".
Now Atlantic is found to have huge "garbage patch"
A huge expanse of floating plastic debris has been documented for the first time
in the North Atlantic Ocean. The size of the affected area rivals the "great Pacific garbage patch" in the world's other great ocean basin, which generated an outcry over the effects of plastic waste on marine wildlife. Read 20/8/10 Independent story by Steve Connor, Science Editor at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/now-atlantic-is-found-to-have-huge-garbage-patch-2057402.html?action=Popup&gallery=no.
Examination of gray whale from west Seattle reveals unusual stomach contents, including more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, surgical gloves, sweat pants, plastic pieces, duct tape, and a golf ball, April 2010. List and photo of foreign material found in the whale's compiled by Cascadia Research, Olympia, WA at http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/CRC%20-%201035%20stomach%20content.pdf.
Some plastics marked as ‘degradable’ might not be as environmentally-friendly as consumers think, according to new Defra-funded research (March 2010)... Defra’s Environment Minister, Dan Norris said: “The research published today clearly shows us that consumers risk being confused by some claims made about oxo-degradable plastics. As these plastics cannot be composted, the term ‘biodegradable’ can cause confusion. Incorrect disposal of oxo-degradable plastics has the potential to negatively affect both recycling and composting facilities. "
Greener Kingston comment: "Watch out, greenwash about! And it can damage your recycling."
Plastic rubbish blights Atlantic Ocean
Scientists have discovered an area of the North Atlantic Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. By Victoria Gill, Science reporter, BBC News, Portland
Greener Kingston comment: "Most people have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (see below) - but plastic waste is accumulating closer to home too, and probably getting into our food chain."
Recycling Plastic: What a Waste, Our Toxic Burden from Plastics
by Lisa Kaas Boyle, Co-Founder Plastic Pollution Coalition, Huffington Post, September 16, 2009
Tesco misleads on plastic bag progress, The Times, August 4, 2009
Britain’s biggest supermarket chain has published misleading figures giving the impression that it had met an industry target to halve the use of plastic bags.
United Nations Environment Programme Head Calls for World-Wide Ban on Pointless Thin Film Plastic Bags, June 2009
‘Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Marine litter is symptomatic of a wider malaise: namely the wasteful use and persistent poor management of natural resources. The plastic bags, bottles and other debris piling up in the oceans and seas could be dramatically reduced by improved waste reduction, waste management and recycling initiatives. "Some of the litter, like thin film single use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased-out rapidly everywhere-there is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=589&ArticleID=6214&l=en
July 2009 - 346 million down, only 372 million to go! May 2009
Leading supermarkets have narrowly missed a Government target to reduce carrier bag use by 50%. Last year, seven supermarket chains signed up to a voluntary scheme aimed at reducing the number of bags given out by 50%. In May 2006, 718 million bags were being given out, and figures released on July 17 show that by May 2009 the number had almost halved to 372 million, a reduction of 48%, but missing the target by 2%.
Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston comment: "This is both good news and bad news. It's good that there are fewer plastic bags going into the system, but it still leaves an enormous 372 million - and that's just from these 7 supermarket chains! And it may mean that the promised Government ban or levy on plastic bags will be quietly dropped?
"Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France", (Daily Telegraph, 24/4/09)
"There are now 46,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre of the world's oceans, killing a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year..." See: Sea of Plastic, the QUEST Community Science Blog explores local science, nature, and environment issues & experiences in Northern California. August 2008, http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/08/22/reporters-notes-sea-of-plastic/
Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston comment: "Estimates about the size of the plastic garbage patch vary, and this is about more than just plastic bags - but plastic bags are part of this horrific oceanic pollution and we can all do our bit not to add to it."
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch.
The world's rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing ... (Independent, Tuesday, 5 February 2008)
www.independent.co.uk/.../the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html