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The Grocery Bag Dilemma By Lori .Iamieson The wonderful convenience of plastic grocery bags 15 being overshadowed by the disposal problems that they present. Unlike paper and food wastes {which account for 36% and 25% respectively of the total Canadian waste stream). plastic. at 5%. isn’t environmentally compatible. It doesn't begin to decom‘ pose for at least 100 years. and over its breakdown process. which can take up to 20,000 years. it can produce carcino- genic toxtns such as methane. tolvene, benzene. mirex and xylene. lf plastic bags are incinerated. they produce noxv JUUS gases. It is obviously important to apply the reduce and recycle principles. [0 plastics. and indeed packaging material in gen- eral. In a practical sense. we should shop where paper bags are used. take our own paper bags. If possible. or con- sider a return to the traditional “market basket" while shopping. Re-use any plastic bags you receive by taking them back to the store; take any extras you have to a local food bank. While a growing number of conâ€" sumers are trying to tackle the receiv- ing end ofthc plastic bag problem. there has also recently been some encourag- ing producer response. Canada Safeway Ltd. ii. introducing a plastic grocery bag that gradually disintegrates. under sunlight. into small fragmean that even- tually become carbon dioxide and water. The plastic is mixed with a resin that was invented by a University ol'Toronâ€" to researcher. The resin. called Ecolth. has sensitivity In ultra-violet rays. and this causes the bags to photodegrade over a 6 month period. Unfortunately, bags buried in a landfill site (and over 94% nl’ our garbage is) will not see sunlight. and hence will not be affected. The bags cost 6 to 9% more to pro ducc than conventional bags. which translates into a less than 1 cent per bag increase in cost. These bags are cun’ently being used on an experimental basis in Safeway stores in British Columbia. and have recently appeared in some Ontario stores as well. Manufacturers have also indicated some interest in combining Ecolyte with a polystyrene compound to make coffee cups and the "clam shell" boxes used for fast food hamburgers, etc. 4 H & C October. November 1988 The St. Lawrence Starch company has bought world-wide rights to Echo» star. 3 starch based additive that makes plastic biodegradable. Soil microbes present in landfill sites begin eating the starch almost inunediately upon burial. Grocery bag plastic with a corn starch additive is already “LE p 0! being used in the 3' E 3*; , United States. and the Nationâ€" al Corn Grow- ers Association has designed a new logo to be printed on products made with this new plastic. The recycling of plastic. in its many forms. poses special problems because it must be sorted into different composiâ€" tion families to be re-processed. The Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) hopes to develop a universal ID symbol for rigid plastic containers to assist in hand separation. but the sorting is still an in- volved process. What can be done with the end products? One of the most inter- esting methods uses shredded plastics, heated and blended into a form which becomes solid when cooled. This pro- cess produces a synthetic lumber which can be sawn. nailed. screwed or drilled, but doesn‘t rot. and doesn‘t have to be toxically treated (like proâ€"treated lumber) for use in wet conditions. The grocery bag problem is only the tip of a much larger packaging iceberg ~ a little problem that grew with the development of plastic and other effec- tive and convenient ways of storing and exhibiting products. It is estimated that die packaging discarded from the actual items we need makes up between 35 and 50% of all waste produced in Canada. This packaging problem is being ap- proached and attacked on several fronts. In Italy. new products aren't allowed in 6 the market if they aren't biode or recyclable. New York Stateg 2:15:11: sidering a waste initiator's tax on pack. aged goods to enmumge consumers to buy recyclable products. The Quebec government, facing a severe Shortage of landfill sites by 1993, is preparing legislation to enforce the reduction reâ€"use and recycling of packaging: The new laws may include a siren- ger returnable container policy packaging design guidelines. a; restrictions allowing only regrlable products and packaging to be intro- 0 and “newly duced. Consumption of Packing Materials Per Person 1985 300 200 100 mm in i m...“ \litt t.- __ I i.____l . W Kilogmrns Europe Japan North Am: In Ontario, it is hoped that tit llue box program will expand into 2 HI million households by 1990, but it: - pro- gram is still only capturing it ’ or packaging produced. There so also plans to design a symbol to be ;. mod prominently on packages tho. ire recyclable. The Packaging Associatii ‘l of Canada, on behalf of its memb ix. is trying to fight the bad guy pollul- 1 m- age that has developed around the. r ['m- ducts. The association points to .. Hurts to reduce the amount of thmt my packaging used. For instance. 1 :thllC film pouches reduce the amot ‘11 of packaging required for milk, marcrrine tubs can be leased again and fight“ for leftovers, etc. Producers also de cnbe the issue of priorities that they musl face, determined at least in part b). can- sumer demand. Should a 2 mm cone bination of plastic film, foil and Pill)cr (used to package dry soup mix. etc.) that is non-recyclable be replaced by} foil paueh in a paper box sealed In plastic, which would cost more in Prrr duct: and transport, take up more shelf room. The second option also prodm:es