Ban the Plastic Bag Campaign Takes UK by Storm

By Nyree Ambarchian on March 3rd, 2008

The Daily Mail, one of the top national newspapers in the UK, launched a “banish the plastic bag”� campaign on its front page last week. It included 10 pages building the case against plastic bags with articles and photos of the damage done to wildlife.

The next day supermarket chain Marks & Spencer announced it would begin charging shoppers five pence for plastic carrier bags in April. A day later, The Daily Mail announced: “Prime Minister backs banish the bag campaign and announces plans for a ban.”

In just seven days this issue has jumped to the top of the UK’s to do list. So why all the attention on plastic bags?

Why Banish the Bag?

According to Plastic Bag Economics, plastic makes up 80 percent of the volume of litter on roads, parks and beaches. It makes up 90 percent of litter in the ocean. A square mile of ocean features 46,000 pieces of plastic.

Plastic bags take decades to breakdown, whether they end up in landfill, the ocean or an incinerator. Typically a plastic bag is used for less than 20 minutes, yet will take up to 1,000 years to rot away.

Plastic bags in the ocean are life threatening for sea inhabitants—they are often mistaken for jelly fish and eaten. They can’t be digested and cause death by slow starvation or suffocation. The dead animal’s body decomposes and frees the plastic bag to roam the ocean again.

Animals affected include birds, turtles and dolphins. Some eight percent of the world’s seal population has reportedly been harmed by plastic bags.

The English Connection

In the UK over 20 billion bags a year are discarded. The UK uses more bags than any other country in the EU, and is one of few that have not yet imposed a ban on free plastic bags given away at pay points in shops. In nearby Ireland shoppers are charged six pence per plastic bag used at the sales counter, cutting their use by 90 percent in just three months.

Some areas in the UK have already taken action to ban plastic bags and change consumer attitudes. However, after The Daily Mail’s campaign, it looks like top retailers and politicians will work together to take action.

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