Recycling a ton of plastic bags costs $4,000 but can be sold for only $32 – a loss of $3,968 per ton (Longest and Sechley 2017)
Consumers use about 100 billion plastic bags a year in the U.S, which is almost one bag per person each day. Laid end-to-end, they could circle the equator 1,330 times. (Kozak 2014; Larsen 2014)
The amount of energy used to make 12 plastic bags could power a car for a mile (Kozak 2014)
Plastic bag recycling rates are difficult to measure, but are estimated to be about 5% (Romer n.d.)
Worldwide, more than a trillion single-use plastic bags are used each year, nearly 2 million each minute (Larsen 2014).
Plastic Health Impacts
Microplastics (those less than 5 mm in diameter) can be passed up the food chain to fish (Tosetto et al. 2016)
If you ate a plate of oysters, you're could have consumed around 50 pieces of microplastics (O’Shea 2017)
Research in Germany found synthetic fibres and fabrics in 24 brands of beer (O’Shea 2017)
Leachables from plastics can include everything from leftover monomer building blocks to additives used to make plastic strong or malleable. Probably the most infamous leachable from plastics is bisphenol A (BPA) (Everts 2009)
Scientists from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health claim that tiny amounts of synthetic chemicals leach into food. While these minute quantities in themselves do no harm, no one knows the impacts of a lifetime's exposure to the chemicals from eating food previously wrapped or stored in plastics. (Boseley 2014)
In one Texas-based study of BPA in packaged foods, researchers assessed 105 samples of fresh, plastic-wrapped, and canned foods, and found detectable levels of the chemical in 60% of them (including some of the fresh foods) (Schecter et al. 2010)
Most plastic products can release chemicals that act like the sex hormone estrogen. These chemicals are found in products that didn't contain BPA, a compound in certain plastics that's been widely criticized because it mimics estrogen. (Hamilton 2011)
Plastic & the Ocean
In total, we use 100 million tons of plastic every year. Some 10 percent of this plastic end up in the oceans (The World Counts n.d.)
“Microplastics can accumulate in fish, birds and other marine life. Because they do not break down rapidly, the amount in the sea and fish will continue to accumulate, making the problem worse over time, until we manage to reduce the amount of plastic in the sea. Some of the extreme estimates even indicate that the amount of plastic in the sea will increase until there is more plastic than fish.” (Arp n.d.)
Studies have shown that 90% of seabirds and one in three turtles have eaten plastic (O’Shea 2017)
Plastic & Landfills
Plastic waste is one of many types of wastes that take too long to decompose. Plastic bags we use in our everyday life take between 10 and 1000 years to decompose, while plastic bottles can take 450 years or more. (LeBlanc 2017)
“According to The World Economic Forum, plastic production has exploded over the last half-century, growing from 16.5 million tons in 1964 to 343 million tons in 2014; it is projected to double by 2036. (Cho 2012)”
“In 2014, Americans discarded about 33.6 million tons of plastic, but only 9.5 percent of it was recycled and 15 percent was combusted to create electricity or heat.” (Cho 2012; 2016)
Polypropylene and Polyethylene
The most common polymer in plastics is polyethylene… It was first used to insulate electrical wires, but today it's used in films, wraps, bottles, disposable gloves and garbage bags. (Freudenrich n.d.)
Used in plastic bottles, polyester clothes, furniture, & carpet
Contains acetaldehyde (which has been linked to DNA damage, abnormal muscle development, Alzheimer’s) and antimony (which has been linked to soil pollution, digestive issues, lung/ heart/ liver/ kidney damage)
Plastic #2 - HDPE
Used in milk jugs, plastic bottles, hard hats, water pipes, & plastic lumber
Plastic #4 - LDPE
Used in plastic bags, 6 pack rings, tubing, milk cartons, & soap containers