As managing editor of Wisconsin is the newest state to debate a ban on plastic grocery bags, according to this story from the Madison, Wis., The Capital Times. The bill was introduced by two Democratic state legislators, Mark Pocan, a represenative from Madison, and Bob Jauch, a senator from Poplar.
Like some other bag-ban proposals around the county, their bill would ban conventional plastic bags, but allow biodegradable bags.
The story quotes Brandon Scholz of the Wisconsin Grocers Association saying that biodegradable bags are too expensive, and that consumers have not been pushing for a ban. He also noted that many retailers collect plastic bags for recycling.
"You're finding more and more grocery stores providing receptacles for their customers to bring the bags back," he said. "And there is a market for those bags."
Pocan, one of the bill sponsors, made one point in the story that is a more than a bit simplistic. The story attributes this information to him:
... because plastic bags are made with petroleum, they increase the United States' reliance on foreign crude oil, Pocan said. Biodegradable bags, in contrast, are made with the starch from corn and other agricultural products.
In North America, most polyethylene is made from natural gas, not oil. And agricultural products may come from sunshine and rainbows, but it takes a lot of energy to harvest the crops and turn them into starch-based resins -- by some measures, more energy than is used to make conventional plastics.
Comments (2)
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Posted by bioplast | February 20, 2008 7:07 PM
Posted on February 20, 2008 19:07
Oxo-biodegradable bags (complying with American Standard 6954) are made from a by-product of gasoline production, which would otherwise be wasted, so nobody is importing oil to make them.
They are not expensive and they degrade in a few months, leaving no fragments or harmful residues
Crop-based bags cost 400% more, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane in landfill - they are really bad news.
Michael Stephen
Symphony Environmental UK
www.degradable.net
Posted by Michael | February 22, 2008 3:54 PM
Posted on February 22, 2008 15:54