Single use plastic bags to be banned.

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Mad Scientist
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#2072523 13-Aug-2018 10:23

SJB:

How about banning the multitude of weekly circulars that are delivered and never looked at (has anybody ever looked at a Warehouse circular). Mine go straight in to recycling. There's the environmental cost of creating, delivering and recycling them all.

I also get free local (but not so local that I'm interested in the contents) papers, some pretty thick, that also go straight in to recycling. I've looked in to canceling them but apparently that's not an option. They just get given to the postie to deliver.

THIS.

And there every club or association or something you "join" will send you a mailer.

My ex universities (some are international!) all send me very useless alumni junk printed on extremely high quality paper that I didn't ask for.

I wonder why they keep needing money.

So you have unwanted and unsolicited stuff sent around the world.

Geektastic

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#2072528 13-Aug-2018 10:29

UHD:

Ugh, so how are you guys transporting your fresh meat home without it leaking all over the place? The heavy duty plastic bags from the supermarket are fairly porous and cotton is worthless to contain beef/chicken juice.

I'd like to see more supermarkets moving to European/US style sealed trays for meat to avoid this. Some supermarkets I have seen here must be close to posing a health hazard, with blood etc dripping on shelving that probably is not adequately sterilised daily etc. Just wrapping clingfilm round the thing is not good enough.

Pumpedd

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#2072532 13-Aug-2018 10:32

The only winners from banning these bags are the supermarkets. They will save millions.

Batman

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#2072536 13-Aug-2018 10:34

I think someone really needs to invent waterproof yet degradable synthetic material. Maybe put out a grant for research on this rather than awarding millions on research grants on the study of bogans for example.

Batman

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#2072537 13-Aug-2018 10:35

Pumpedd:

The only winners from banning these bags are the supermarkets. They will save millions.

No, they will save millions and make millions buy selling other single use stuff.

frankv

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#2072561 13-Aug-2018 11:21

Batman:

I think someone really needs to invent waterproof yet degradable synthetic material. Maybe put out a grant for research on this rather than awarding millions on research grants on the study of bogans for example.

There already is... PLA (PolyLactic Acid) is a bio-plastic (commonly used in 3D printing) which breaks down with heat and moisture during composting (https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-compost-PLA-plastic). Probably can't be done in your home compost heap though (needs 60C).

I don't know how good it would be for plastic bags though... although it is strong, it's not very flexible.

Incidentaly, from https://sciencing.com/materials-used-making-plastic-bags-5267902.html --

In general, plastic bags are the preferred environmental choice, not because of their recyclable qualities but because of their manufacturing process, which uses around 70 percent less energy and releases 50 percent fewer greenhouse gas particles than alternatives like paper bags.

Batman

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#2072563 13-Aug-2018 11:23

what is the environmental cost/impact of dumping all rubbish into an active volcano?

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Fred99

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#2072566 13-Aug-2018 11:36

Lastman: So has anyone been to a country where a ban is in place and can comment how it works in practise? Or uses one of the supermarkets that has stopped using bags?

My local supermarket was one of the trial Countdown supermarkets that introduced the ban months ago.

It's not a problem - so long as you remember to put the multi-use bags back in your car.

There were some teething problems with the self-checkouts, calibrating the scales for weighing empty bags when using the "own bag" function. In the early stages I think they had them set so that an attendant had to check to see if bags were empty, but they don't do that now. Doesn't seem to have added to congestion at the checkout now that those issues have been worked through.

There's a hell of a lot less visible garbage around. We walk a lot around the area. I don't know if it's because so many of the single use bags blew out of bins, or whether because of the ban there's been a mindset change and people are littering less, but sure I'm not imagining the result.

MikeAqua

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#2072591 13-Aug-2018 12:34

networkn:

Storing food in tins for any period of time once opened is unsafe.

Tins are no longer tin.

The only real risk would be the food going off, which never seemed to happen to tomato sauce in our house.

Mike

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#2072706 13-Aug-2018 15:03

Just a bit of perspective on plastic in the oceans:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4970214/95-plastic-oceans-comes-just-TEN-rivers.html

Interesting that our plastic problem tends to be litter, but worldwide it is mismanagement of collected refuse.

Fred99

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#2072710 13-Aug-2018 15:14

MikeAqua:

networkn:

Storing food in tins for any period of time once opened is unsafe.

Tins are no longer tin.

The only real risk would be the food going off, which never seemed to happen to tomato sauce in our house.

Once cans are opened some foods, especially fruit, fruit juices, and tomato products, should be placed in a clean plastic or glass container, covered and stored in the refrigerator. When these foods are stored in the opened metal can, tin and iron will dissolve from the can walls and the food may develop a metallic taste. Food containing high concentrations of tin can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, abdominal bloating, fever or headache. These symptoms pass quickly and there seem to be no long term effects of high tin exposure. However, repackaging food once a can is opened is a good practice to adopt for all foods packaged in metal cans.

source article

There's still a bit of tin coating on the steel cans.

They are recyclable - and probably many actually are as they're separated from general waste using magnets. If they're dumped to landfill at least they eventually rust.

There seems to be an increase in small "aseptic" pouches - as an alternative to cans - on supermarket shelves. These are made out of laminated films - several different polymers and aluminium foil etc. I doubt there's any practical way those pouches could be recycled, I'd also expect that because they have to be tough and resistant enough to withstand any damage in transport or through contact with the contents, they'd probably never break down in landfill.

I avoid them - at this time they're priced at a premium - often the same or very similar product in conventional cans, at a lower price.

Batman

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#2072876 13-Aug-2018 17:23

kryptonjohn:

Just a bit of perspective on plastic in the oceans:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4970214/95-plastic-oceans-comes-just-TEN-rivers.html

Interesting that our plastic problem tends to be litter, but worldwide it is mismanagement of collected refuse.

I heard someone say don't buy sea salt because it will have a lot of micro plastics ... anyone knows if that's true and if it has detrimental effects?

Fred99

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#2072881 13-Aug-2018 18:03

Batman:

I heard someone say don't buy sea salt because it will have a lot of micro plastics ... anyone knows if that's true and if it has detrimental effects?

paper

I don't think there's anything definitive yet - to say whether eating microplastics is relatively safe or not.

Handle9

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#2072884 13-Aug-2018 18:18

Lastman: So has anyone been to a country where a ban is in place and can comment how it works in practise? Or uses one of the supermarkets that has stopped using bags?

The ban is in place in Victoria and Queensland and you either BYO bag or pay for a reusable bag. Coles have introduced a reasonably cheap (15c), reusable bag. It's more like a JB Hifi bag material than a normal supermarket bag. It really doesn't seem like a big deal there.

tdgeek

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#2072886 13-Aug-2018 18:41

It shouldn't be a big deal here either, lots of small steps will help

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