Facts About Single-Use Plastic Bags

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02-Aug-2021

1. Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year. People in Denmark use an average of four plastic bags per year.
2. It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile.
3. About 34% of dead leatherback sea turtle have ingested plastics.
4. The plastic typically used in bottles, bags and food containers contains chemical additives such as endocrine disruptors, which are associated with negative health effects including cancers, birth defects and immune system suppression in humans and wildlife.
5. It takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.
6. Chemical leachates from plastic bags impair the growth of the world’s most important microorganisms, Prochlorococcus, a marine bacterium that provides one tenth of the world’s oxygen.
7. There were 1.9 million grocery bags and other plastic bags collected in the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup.
8. As of July 2018, 127 countries have adopted some form of legislation to regulate plastic bags.

 

Greenhouse gases

When disposable plastics degrade in the environment, they emit several greenhouse gases. When plastic is exposed to sunlight, it produces methane and ethylene, which have a detrimental effect. It has been determined that greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle account for 3.8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The plastics release a variety of chemicals during degradation, which has a negative impact on the animal and plant habitat. Once released, the gas emissions can be toxic and have adverse effects on the environment and human health.