Plastic facts

What are plastic bags made of?

Plastic bags are made from ethylene, a gas that is produced as a by-product of oil, gas and coal production. Recycling plastics is a priority as these resources will run out in our lifetimes.

Fast Facts

• A trillion (1,000,000,000,000) plastic bags are made annually and even if all plastic production stopped tomorrow, the 70% of marine plastic which descends to the seabed will be around for thousands of years (SMH).
• They can take up to 1000 years to break down (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• Australians use over 10 million plastic bags per day (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• Almost half of these bags are given away by non supermarket retailers such as newsagents, discount stores, pharmacies, fruit and veggie shops and take away shops (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• It only takes approximately 4 shopping trips for the average Aussie family to accumulate over 60 plastic bags (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• Australians throw away over 7000 recyclable plastic bags per minute (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• 429,000 recyclable plastic bags are dumped in landfill every hour (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• Plastic bags kill and disable thousands of marine animals and sea birds every year. When the animal dies and decays the bag remains intact and is free to repeat its deadly cycle (Noplasticbags.org.au)
• Currently only 3% of bags are recycled (Cleanup Australia)

Effects on Marine Life

Plastic bags make up a large portion of the litter we see every day in our streets, parks and waterways. Not only does litter make our communities look ugly and unpleasent, but there are also more serious consequences for our marine wildlife. Plastic bags get caught up in the wind or washed into waterways and are swept into the ocean marine and coastal animals mistake them for food or become entangled.

Once eaten, plastic bags cannot be digested or passed by an animal, so they stay in their stomach, leading to a slow and painful death. After the animal has died, its remains break down and dissolve, however the plastic lives on to be swallowed again and again.

Where do most plastic bags end up?

• Landfill - most plastic bags go into our garbage bins, which then goes on to become landfill. At the dump plastic bags live out their lifespan, taking anywhere from 20 to 1000 years to break down,
• The ocean and waterways - Did you know the world’s largest landfill is floating in the pacific ocean? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an ‘island’ formed by rubbish that has been thrown into the ocean and is now trapped by currents in one place. Made up of over 90% plastic, this floating dump between Hawaii and California is about the size of New South Wales!