SciDev.Net:
Plastic bags should be managed, not banned, writes Lilia
Casanova, a former deputy director at the United Nations
Environment Programme's International Environmental Technology
Centre in Japan. Although many cities worldwide have been
trying to ban plastic bags because of their potential negative
effect on the environmentâmdash;they can clog
sewers and choke animals, among other
thingsâmdash;plastic is superior to paper in
many ways. Plastic is better for certain purposes, such as
carrying wet goods, and can be reused, such as for lining trash
cans. In addition, plastic is less polluting because it
requires less energy than paper to be produced and recycled.
The solution, Casanova says, is not to ban plastic bags but to
better manage them: Make plastic bags out of biodegradable
materials, such as the bioplastics that are now being produced
in some European countries; reuse the bags as many times as
possible; and recycle them properly when their useful life has
come to an end.
