Plastic bag makers say their product isn't to blame for damaging the environment

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Plastic bag manufacturers say bags are being blamed for a greater problem.

A plastic manufacturer says people are blaming plastic bags for wrecking the environment, instead of taking responsibility for their own wasteful behaviour.

The decision to phase out single-use plastic bags, announced last week, means Kiwi Plastics will close at the end of the year.

But company owner Angelus Tay said a lack of waste education was the real problem, not the bags.

'The bag can't defend itself, so you blame the product.'

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced single-use plastic bags will be phased out.

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People were not recycling plastic bags properly where they could, he said.

'People think it's so easy and they're all just thrown away. Then they're ending up in the sea and it's a 'plastic problem'.'

Plastic bags are coping the blame of a larger problem, a plastic bag manufacturer says.

Tay believed there were no other reliable alternatives to plastic bags in this country, and even took a shot at supermarkets for cashing in by charging a dollar for reusable shopping bags.

'The supermarkets are laughing to the bank.'

People would buy the reusable alternatives because they were 'so green', but they were not hygienic because people were putting meat with other products in the same reusable bag and risked contamination, he said.

Tay said the company had been operating since 1989, but would close at the end of the year.

People now bag their groceries including meat and vegetables in the same bag, which could cause health problems, a bag manufacturer has said.

'The days are numbered because the bags will be gone next year … I'll tell the staff it's not my fault, it's the government policy.'

Total Packaging owner Bob Stewart said Tokyo used more plastic bags in a single day than New Zealand used in a year.

'The argument should be: Go and sort them out before you talk to us.'

Plastic bags might not be the right place to start, he said.

'When I go to the supermarket, there's more plastic in my cart … plastic for Africa. Then they offer you a bag and you think, 'well I've got 10 tonnes of plastic in here, and you think one bag will save the world?'

'There's so much pollution and crap out there that you don't know if this is the right place to start.'

Total Packaging would not be affected by the ban because they did not supply many plastic bags, Stewart said.

A manager at a Christchurch bag manufacturer who did not want his name or business to be identified, said the business may be considered the 'bad guys', but agreed the ban on plastic bags was a step forward.

However, he believed the alternatives just did not stack up.

'I don't think there's a practical alternative to plastic.'

Biodegradable bags were not as easy to break down as people thought, and there were reasons why people moved away from paper, he said.

'Paper can be incredibly bad for the environment. It can be 14 times' more harmful for the environment than plastic bags … there's some real benefits to plastic that people will miss out on.'

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