Reusable plastic bags turn out not to really protect the environment, only to make matters worse

In the past few years, large reusable plastic shopping bags have started to appear in grocery stores and supermarkets in many parts of the world. They are stronger than fragile plastic bags and quickly became a symbol of the global anti-disposable plastic movement. Many places also consider this as a marketing tactic, aimed at the "ethical" choice of shoppers, helping them to believe more about their sense of environmental protection.

But it turns out, these thick plastic bags, which require more plastic to produce. That means they can only improve the overall situation if it results in stores offering less plastic, not replacing thousands of disposable plastic bags that shoppers can still use. year. Because no matter what they look like, they contribute to the global problem of rising garbage entering the environment and greenhouse gases, involving the production of bags from fossil fuels in the first place.

A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace of the UK is examining grocery stores in the country, showing that reusable plastic bags have "completely failed" to do so. the purpose they were originally intended for. Specifically in 2019, the top 10 UK grocery stores have sold 1.5 billion bags of this type, equivalent to 54 bags per household.

By comparison, the UK's top 8 grocery retailers, representing more than 75% of the market, sold 959 million such bags in 2018. Some supermarket chains have also seen an increase. skyrocketing sales for this special reusable bag. Icelandic frozen food store sold 10 times more plastic bags than last year, about 34 million units.

Put simply, reusable plastic bags have not been reused for the intended purpose.

"The survey showed a large increase in the sale of reusable plastic bags, showing the inconsistency of the current policy. Clearly we did not provide a strong enough incentive for people to stop using them." use reusable bags like disposable plastic bags, "the report said.

Overall, UK supermarkets have increased the amount of plastic packaging they bring to the environment, including reusable bags, to 18,739 tons in 2018 from 17,000 tons in 2017. Therefore, the report suggests that bags Reusable plastic should be banned. Instead, customers should be able to carry their own bags when shopping, instead of going and using one-time bags, or buying reusable bags from shops.

Refer to Qz