Aussies battle 6.9
billion plastic bags
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia announced a crackdown on plastic bags on Monday, aiming to get supermarket chains and retailers to slash litter by 38 million bags by the end of 2004. Possible measures include a charge on the 6.9 billion plastic bags used by Australia's 20 million people every year and setting the supermarkets "ambitious" targets for recycling, Environment Minister David Kemp said.
"The plastic bag problem is first and foremost a problem of litter," Kemp said in a statement. "The challenge for Australia is not the 6.9 billion plastic bags used each year, but the 50 to 80 million that end up as litter. We must stop this incredible number of bags finding their way into the litter stream, where they are lethal to marine and other wildlife."
Cutting litter The government aimed to cut that litter by at least 75 percent, a minimum of 38 million bags, Kemp said.
The minister met state environmental officials on Monday and agreed to set retailers a 50 percent recycling and reduction target for lightweight plastic bag use over the next two years, under a voluntary code of practice. Kemp said the federal government and its state level counterparts would draw up relevant legislation over the next six months. Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
DID YOU KNOW? According to the federal National Research Council:
As many as 8.8 million tons of oil enter the ocean each year as a result of human activity.
At any given time, the ocean contains 280,000 tons of tar balls.
Each year, as much as 27 million tons of fish are unnecessarily caught-then thrown overboard because they are too small, the wrong species, of inferior quality or simply not needed.
The U.S. could lose 10,000 square miles of coastal property due to sea level rise associated with global warming and climate change.
Additional Reading:
Very Interesting: Upon performing a necropsy, she found two feet of its digestive tract filled with trash. Plastic bags. Multicolored balloons. Bandages. Electric tape. Fishing line. Even cigarette butts.
Excelent Canadian site on Marine Trash: The marine environment is especially sensitive to plastic debris. Wildfowl and sea creatures are hurt or killed when they mistakenly eat or become entangled in it. Death can result form a blocked digestive tract or from toxic by-products of digestion of some plastics, or through starvation from a false sense of being full
California Requirements Plastic Trash Bag Manufacturers Plastic trash bag manufacturers selling trash bags in California are required to meet either one of the following: Plastic trash bags contain a quantity of recycled plastic postconsumer material (RPPCM) equal to at least 10 percent of the weight of the regulated bags. At least 30 percent of the weight of material used in all of its plastic products is RPPCM.
(Home) (Boat Dives) (Buddy List) (Campouts) (Diving Links) (Dive Spots & Dive Boats) (Diving Time Line) (Email) (Meetings) (Membership) (Recipes) (Safety & Education) (News Letters AKA Snorkel Talk) (Non Sequitur) (Updates)