403 billion pounds of plastic are produced from oil every year. For more information, visit: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&refer=home&sid=a14k5rGoGenk

U.S. plastic production surged four-fold to 113 billion pounds in 2006 from 29 billion in 1973, according to the Washington-based American Chemistry Council,  an industry trade group.

Plastic materials comprise the majority of marine debris. Proportions vary between 60–80%, and in some regions plastic material constitutes as much as 90-95% of the total amount of marine debris. For more information, visit: California Coastal Commission, (2006) “Eliminating Land-based Discharges of Marine Debris in California: A Plan of Action from The Plastic Debris Project" and http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/

Plastic bags, Styrofoam and cigarette butts are the top three items littered on our planet. Plastic bags are light and hard to contain so they fly easily in the wind and float readily in the currents of our oceans and rivers. 

A little more than half of all thermoplastics will sink in seawater. 


PLASTIC BAGS

Plastic bags most often come from one of five types of polymers — polyethylene — more commonly known as polythene. All hazardous to produce and said to take up to 1,000 years to decompose on land and 450 years in water. 

A million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide, and the number is rising.

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide -- equaling over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.  

The EPA reports the U.S. consumes over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps annually.

Taiwan consumes approximately 20 billion bags a year -- 900 per person -- according to the industry publication Modern Plastics.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion.

Australia's Department of Environment reports that Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags annually - 326 per person. An estimated 0.7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter.

For more information, visit: Battle of the Bag, New Scientist, September 11, 2004

PLATSTIC WATER BOTTLES

Plastic water bottles are most often made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is produced from fossil fuels – typically natural gas and petroleum. 

The Pacific Institute estimates that the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil.

Worldwide 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.

Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year.

Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill.

DECOMPOSITION

Decomposition of plastic depends upon the type of plastic (polymer) and the environment to which it is exposed. The same plastic can differ quite widely in its decomposition depending upon how it is formulated.

Sun and weather quickly decompose polystyrene, as do polyvinyl acetates, other polyesters, and polyvinylchloride.

DuPont's Teflon ™, polyvinylfluoride, is virtually indestructible.

Plastics can take around 300 years to photo degrade and up to 500 years to decompose.

Exposure to direct sunlight helps speed up the process where as decomposition by microbes is very slow.

A smaller plastic bottle can take 450 years to decompose compared to a plastic jug taking 1 million years.

Plastic bags range from 20 to 1000 years and Styrofoam ranging wildly from 1 to 1  million years (Styrofoam cup is 50 years).

To learn more, visit: http://behealthyandrelax.com/2007/11/how-long-does-it-take-to-decompose/DECOMPOSITION


ANIMAL MORTALITY RATE

When not properly disposed, plastic waste can be harmful and even deadly to marine life and animals. Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade - breaking down into small toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.

It is estimated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association that marine debris worldwide kills more than 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. For more information, visit: www.algalita.org

The facts show that 44% of all seabird species are known to ingest plastic. For more information, view: doi:10.1016/j.envres.2008.07.025 Environmental Research Volume 108, Issue 2, October 2008, Pages 131-139, The Plastic World and Monterey Bay Aquarium

A total of 267 species of marine organisms worldwide are known to have been affected by plastic debris and this number will increase as smaller organisms are assessed. 

According to the WWF, turtles become entangled in plastic fishing nets, and many sea turtles have been found dead with plastic garbage bags in their stomachs. Studies indicate turtles mistake floating semi-transparent bags for jellyfish—their favorite food. The turtles die an inhumane death from choking or from being unable to eat. 

Land animals not excluded, such as cows in India are ingesting plastic bags as they forage for food on the street. They then end up choking or starving to death.


THE FLOATING TOXIC GRAVEYARD (AKA Garbage Patch, Plastic Island, Trash Vortex)

Reported to be beyond clean up by American oceanographer Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), the amount of toxic plastic plastic graveyard is double the size of Texas. Located in the waters of the Pacific between San Francisco and Hawaii, in the eye of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, consisting of 80 percent plastics and weighing some 3.5 million tons—and growing tenfold each decade since the 1950s. Moore and his crew found the gyre contained six parts of plastic for every part plankton, with a five times escalation in the amount of plastic between 1997 and 2007.

The “trash vortex” is actually two linked areas, either side of the islands of Hawaii, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. The vortex covers about 10 million square miles north of the equator, rotating clockwise from about 300 miles off California's coast to near Japan. It's the result of prevailing winds that move west to east on the northern side and in the opposite direction to the south.

The majority of samples, which are collected at one, ten, and one hundred meter depths, contain primarily low-density polyethylene, expanded styrene (Styrofoam), polypropylene, and PET (polyethylene terephthalate)

To learn more, view: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89787388, http://beachcombersalert.org/index.htm, United Nations Environment Programme, and Articles on marine litter/marine debris, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, 1977—2003


DISPOSAL & RECYCLING

According to statistics, manufacturing new plastic from recycled plastic requires two-thirds of the energy used in virgin plastic manufacturing. One ton of recycled plastic saves 685 gallons of oil. For more information, visit: http://www.aprecycling.com/, http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm, and Progressive Bag Affiliates

Plastic used for grocery bags is recycled less frequently than high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or PETE).  Plastic grocery bags are fully recyclable and the number of recycling programs is increasing daily.  Some area grocery stores have bins for used plastic bags. It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.

To learn more about increasing plastic bag recycling, check out http://www.plasticbagrecycling.org/


CHANGING HABITS

Ireland has implemented a fee per plastic bag to discourage the excessive use of plastic bags. Since 2002, plastic bag consumption has decreased by an estimated 90%. For more information, visit: Ireland Department of the Environment

Joining Uganda, South Africa, Russia, Hong Kong and parts of England, the Chinese government banning shops from handing out free plastic bags from June 2008, in a bid to curb pollution. According to the Daily Mail, China uses more plastic bags than any other country.

U.S cities that have banned or are charging fees for plastic bags include Encinitas, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and New York.


NEUROTOXINS OFF-GAS FROM PLASTICS — BPA AND PBDEs

Exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and flame retardants (PBDEs) are strongly associated with adverse health effects on humans and laboratory animals including cancer and reproductive abnormalities as well as associations with obesity and diabetes.
Abstract doi:10.1016/j.envres.2008.08.008  , Environmental Research, Volume 108, Issue 2, October 2008, Pages 158-167, The Plastic World

Bisphenol A (BPA) - “An endocrine disrupting chemical, used in the manufacture of
certain high quality clear plastics (e.g. baby feeding bottles), and used in the resin
which lines most tin cans. “

Brominated flame retardants (PBDEs) - “A group of bromine containing chemicals that are
used to make materials such as textiles and plastics less flammable. However, many
of these chemicals are very persistent in the environment and/or can accumulate in
wildlife and people. “

U.S. Centers for Disease Control  and Prevention found bisphenol A in  the urine of over 95% of people they  tested.

In April 2008, the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program issued a draft report citing “some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures.” 

Some provisions in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA):

• Phthalates will be banned from children's products.
• Products must be tested for safety before they are sold.
• Consumers will have access to a database to learn about product complaints.
• Violators of safety standards could face more significant civil penalties.

In 2005, the European Union made permanent a ban on BPA, prompting most large toy companies to switch to alternative substances thought to be safer. On the state level, California, Washington and Vermont have passed laws to restrict the chemicals' use. 

On October 17, 2008 the Government of Canada announced it will immediately proceed with drafting regulations to prohibit the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA).  It will also work with industry to minimize or eliminate BPA-based linings in cans used for infant formula.

MANUFACTURING ADJUSTMENTS

There is a new focus of scientific and technological exploration in the conversion of sustainable natural resources to biopolymers and biocomposites. They can be produced by biological systems (i.e. micro-organisms, plants and animals), or chemically synthesized from biological starting materials (e.g. sugars, starch, natural fats or oils, etc.).

Biopolymers are an alternative to petroleum-based polymers (traditional plastics). (Bio)polyesters have properties similar to traditional polyesters. Starch-based polymers are often a blend of starch and other plastics (e.g PE), which allows for enhanced environmental properties. For more information, visit: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/doc.asp?CID=1106&DID=4642

Biopolymers like polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and Polylactide (PLA) are completely biodegradable in compost (and extremely slowly -- if at all -- in a landfill) and are not made from petroleum products. Although unlikely to be a long-term solution, the primary feedstock for bioplastics is corn, which is abounding with agro-political conflict, often grown and harvested unsustainably, and competing with food supply. 

Some bags marked "biodegradable" are actually recycled plastic mixed with cornstarch. The cornstarch biodegrades and the plastic breaks down into tiny little pieces but does not actually "biodegrade," leaving a polymer mess (if in small pieces). To avoid this look for 100% plant-based polymers.