UN official suggests end of single-use plastic bags

11-Jun-09

Single use plastic use bags are the second most common form of litter after cigarette butts in USA. Top environmental official of the United Nations' has suggested ban of single-use plastic bags. Despite increasing recycling of bags in the United States, an estimated 90 billion thin bags a year remain unrecycled. The declaration accompanied a UNEP report that identifies plastic as the most pervasive form of ocean litter. According to the report, Plastic, the most prevalent component of marine debris, poses hazards because it persists so long in the ocean, degrading into tinier and tinier bits that can be consumed by the smallest marine life at the base of the food web. In China, retailers giving out thin bags can be fined up to $1464. According to one nationwide survey, 40 billion fewer plastic bags were given out in grocery stores after the law's enactment. Ireland managed to cut single-use plastic bag consumption by 90% by levying a fee on each bag that consumers use. San Francisco has completely banned plastic bags. Los Angeles will do so in 2010. Washington, D.C.'s city council is set to vote on a 5-cent-a-bag tax later this month.