Planet Ark

20 million Australians use 6.4 billion plastic check-out bags per year. That's nearly 1 plastic bag per person per day or 345 bags per person per year.

An October 2003 Roy Morgan study showed that 87% of Australians were concerned about the impact plastic bags have on the environment.

A person's use of a plastic check-out bag can be counted in minutes; however long it takes to get from the shops to their homes. Plastic bags however, can take between 15 and 1000 years to break down in the environment.

At least 80 million plastic bags end up as litter on our beaches, streets and parks. Australian local and State Governments spend over $200 million a year picking up litter.

In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles every year. When the dead animal decays, the plastic bags are freed to be re-ingested by other animals for many years to come.

On land, plastic bag litter can block drains and trap birds. They also kill livestock. One farmer near Mudgee NSW, carried out an autopsy on a dead calf and found 8 plastic bags in its stomach. The loss of this calf cost the farmer around $500.

Not all litter is deliberate. 47% of wind borne litter escaping from landfills is plastic, and much of this is plastic bags.

Less than 5% of Australia's plastic bags are currently being recycled, despite recycling facilities being available at major supermarkets.

In many council areas, plastic bags are the single main contaminant of kerbside recycling.

Plastic bags are not free to consumers; they are actually adding an estimated $173 million a year to Australia's grocery bills.

Only an estimated 19% of the 3.7 billion plastic supermarket shopping bags handed out in Australia every year, are being reused by households as kitchen bin liners.

Plastic bags are a by-product of the oil industry. 4 billion HDPE plastic bags are imported into Australia every year.

Since Planet Ark started this campaign, retail use of plastic check-out bags has dropped by half a billion bags.

Since March 2002, Ireland has reduced its plastic check-out bag usage by 90% after introducing a plastic bag levy. In Australia Coles Bay, Huskisson, Kangaroo Valley, Mogo and the Sydney suburb of Oyster Bay have all successfully banned plastic check-out bags in all their retail stores.

Under an agreement between the Federal Government and the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), retailers have until December 2004 to reduce their consumption of lightweight single use plastic check-out bags by 25%. This rises to 50% by December 2005.

For more plastic bag information please go to http://www.planetark.com/plasticbags