Plastic bag revolt spreads across Britain
Spurred by a filmmaker's documentary, the English town of Modbury became the first in Europe to ban them outright.
from the June 20, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
Plastic stats – and solutions
500 billion: Number of plastic bags consumed worldwide every year (1 million per minute)
500: Years it takes a plastic bag to decay in landfill
167: Bags used annually by the average British consumer
4.175 million: "Average" person's plastic-bag legacy, in years
£64 to £80 million ($127 million to $159 million): Amount British retailers spend yearly on providing plastic bags to customers
Countries making headway:
•Since Denmark introduced a packaging tax in 1994, consumption of paper and plastic bags has declined by 66 percent.
•In October 2001, Taiwan introduced a ban on distribution of free single-use plastic bags by government agencies, schools, and the military. In 2003, the ban was extended to include supermarkets, fast-food outlets, and department stores. Customers must now pay NT$1 to NT$2 (30 to 60 cents) for a bag.
•The Irish government says that a tax on plastic bags, introduced in 2002, has cut their use there by more than 95 percent. The "plas tax" has also raised millions of euros, to be used for environmental projects.
•Bangladesh slapped an outright ban on all polythene bags in 2002 after they were found to have been the main culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. Discarded bags had choked the country's drainage systems.
•In 2006, Hong Kong began a voluntary drive to reduce plastic-bag use. Since then, supermarkets have handed out 80 million fewer plastic bags.•The English town of Modbury became the first plastic-bag free town in Europe after all 43 of its independent retailers committed to banning the bag.
Source: www.wearewhatwedo.org
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