Question - Should We Change Over From Plastic To Paper Bags?
Answer -
A decision should be made after considering these facts.
The wide spread belief that substitution of plastics with paper is more favourable to the environment, is not supported by facts and a L.C.A.
The manufacture of paper bags requires two-and-half times the energy as compared to plastic bags of the same size and for comparable performance.
The manufacture of paper produces singnificantly higher air pollutants. There is a huge disparity in waste water discharge in manufacture or recycling of paper.
As far as biodegradability is concerned, the University of Arizona study shows that newspapers burried in 1952 in land-fills and excavated in 1989, were legible. The same observation was made with telephone directories.
Some will argue that paper comes from trees which is a renewable resource; while plastic is manufactured from oil, which cannot be replaced. The argument against this is, that forests play an important role in protecting our soil bank and maintaining the gaseous balance in our atmosphere, by absorbing carbon dioxide and in turn releasing oxygen. In our hunger for wood, 44 million hectares of forests have been felled since Independence, making this country a land with one of the lowest areas under forest cover (area under forest to total land area). Therefore, as far as India is concerned land is not a renewable resource.