ENVIRONMENT

SUBSTITUTES FOR PLASTICS

In recent years we have seen the clear evidence of the problems of the use of petro-chemical in making various types of plastics that have caused many issues from polluting our oceans, and getting into the food chain via the fish we eat, to having birds and other animals being harmed by discarded plastic products. The removal of single use plastic bags from shopping has not resolved the problem as other styles of plastic bags are replacing them. There is a possibility of the replacement of the petro-chemical bag by a plant fiber bag that looks like, feels like and has many other similar characteristics to the petro-chemical bags. While the cost of production may be slightly higher this should not be the single biggest hurdle to replacing the plastic bags. Plant fiber plastic is fully bio-degradable making it fully recyclable.

Policy:

Due to the environmental issues related to petro-chemical bags new replacement products to the petro-chemical plastics must be sought and fully developed.

• Further research on the potential use of plant fiber to make plastic type replacement products.

• Storage products we use need to be as environmentally as possible due to the current environmental issues being caused by the discarding of storage products.

• The removal of discarded petro-chemical plastics from the environment is an ongoing and important program that must have continued funding as such discarded products are killing and injuring many varieties of wild life.