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I had the same thought that the litter created by single-use plastic bags is worth weighing in the equation. However, a look at a similar study in the US (Life
by SamBam 4y ago
I had the same thought that the litter created by single-use plastic bags is worth weighing in the equation.
However, a look at a similar study in the US (Life Cycle Assessment of Grocery Bags in Common Use in the United States [1]) points out that "A compilation of all of the statistically-based studies of litter in the U.S. and Canada over an 18 year period shows consistently that “plastic bags” (which includes trash bags, grocery bags, retail bags and dry cleaning bags) make up a very small portion of litter, usually less than 1%. "
So our vision of plastic bags getting into every nook and cranny may not be an accurate perception of reality.
1. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=cudp_environment https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=...
- masonic 4y ago>“plastic bags” (which includes trash bags, grocery bags, retail bags and dry cleaning bags) make up a very small portion of litter, usually less than 1% By mass (weight), not volume, area, visibility, or impact on wildlife.
- SamBam 4y agoNo, by number of pieces. > Stein analyzed 20 years of scientifically-designed, statistically based litter surveys in the U.S. and Canada and concluded that total plastic bag litter was less than 1% (by number of pieces). Combining these data with the estimated annual production of PRBs of 100 billion bags (U. S. International Trade Commission, 2009), and assuming that all of the plastic bag litter resulted from only one year’s production and use of PRBs, leads to the conclusion that less than 0.5% of PRBs end their life as litter