Every year, around 500 billion plastic grocery bags are used worldwide. And an estimated 10 million tons of plastic are discarded in the ocean yearly. To help combat this waste, several American states have enacted bans on plastic grocery bags. But are bans on plastic bags or reusable alternatives – like tote or canvas bags – viable solutions to the world’s plastic problem?
This episode of “The Sweaty Penguin” explores a wide range of issues – including plastic bag manufacturing – and looks at the shortcomings of some proposed solutions. Featuring special guest Dr. Rebecca Taylor, Senior Lecturer of Economics at the University of Sydney.
TRANSCRIPTAD READER: This episode of The Sweaty Penguin is brought to you by Christmas. Did you just finish trick or treating? Try Christmas now! Right now!
ETHAN: Welcome to episode 106 of The Sweaty Penguin: Antarctica’s Hottest Podcast. I’m your host, Ethan Brown. Before I jump in, we’re trying out a little bit of a different format today. We’re trying to get these deep dives a little bit shorter so you can listen to the whole thing during your commute or workout or walking your grandpa or what have you, and also make it a little bit more manageable for our team. In the last couple weeks, I believe around five of our team members got sick, so we’ve been struggling a little bit! So we’re still figuring it out right now, but we’ve got a great episode for you today. I’m really proud of this one and I hope you enjoy it!
ETHAN: Today we are talking about bags: a word that simultaneously means a container with an open top used for carrying things, a lot of money, and any goal you’ve ever had in your life. That’s right, go get that bag. Obtain that grain. Yeet that wheat.
ETHAN: Specifically, we’ll be talking about grocery bags. Our world faces increasingly severe hurricanes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, and more, but grocery bags have somehow become one of the hottest environmental topics. It’s right up there with Taylor Swift’s jet, Beyond Burgers, and figuring out which soup is best for throwing at artwork. In fact, eight states have gone so far as to ban single-use plastic bags, and over 200 counties and municipalities have enacted ordinances either imposing a fee on plastic bags or banning them. And just a few weeks ago, California took it one step further, banning not just single-use plastic bags at checkout, but those smaller produce bags as well.
CLIP: It’s been more than five years since single-use plastic bags like these were banned from grocery stores, a ban advocates say made strides for the environment. –There was a 72 percent drop in grocery bag litter in the state just one year after it was fully implemented. –Now, a new law hopes to take things a step further by banning these: single-use plastic pre-checkout bags that are not recyclable and can contaminate compost facilities.
ETHAN: That new ban was signed into law on September 30, and the fact that it was in the news goes to show that even with all the other things going on in the world, people are paying attention to this issue. And to be fair, it is an issue. According to the Ocean Conservancy’s 2020 Coastal Cleanup Report, plastic grocery bags ranked number 6 for trash in the ocean. It’s like the Snapchat of ocean trash — it’s no YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, but it’s still relevant. Some people still keep streaks, I think! Even if bags aren’t the worst offender though, they’re a very hot topic and in my opinion, a really really interesting and misunderstood one, so I’m very excited to talk about it today. We’ll discuss the extent to which plastic bags are a problem, some of the shortcomings of the trendier solutions, and some other less commonly discussed ideas for how to most sustainably and effectively move forward.
ETHAN: The Sweaty Penguin is presented by Peril and Promise: a public media initiative from The WNET Group in New York, reporting on the issues and solutions around climate change. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise. If you want to take two minutes to help out The Sweaty Penguin, you can either leave us a five star rating and review or join our Patreon at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin. Doing either earns you a special shoutout at the end of the show; joining the Patreon gets you merch, bonus content, and a whole lot more.
ETHAN: But first, it’s time for Plastic Bags 101. [bell ring] Like blueberries or trips to the bathroom, not all plastics are created equal, and single-use plastic bags are typically made from a material called high-density polyethylene. In addition to being my celebrity couple name with a girl named Polly, polyethylene is a string of carbon and hydrogen atoms. How do we make polyethylene? We use… [drumroll] oil and gas! [booo] Oil and natural gas are also made of carbon and hydrogen, so in addition to using them for energy, we process them into plastic. So I won’t rehash it all today, but if you listen to our episodes on fracking or the Permian Basin or the Haynesville Shale, you’ll learn a little bit about the villain origin story of plastic bags, and some of the many issues to which they contribute. Spoiler alert: plastic’s parents got divorced at age eleven and it still isn’t over it.
ETHAN: After we drill and frack and insert other PG13 sounding term here, we have to actually turn our fossil fuels into polyethylene. How do we do that? First, we transport our fossil fuels to a type of petrochemical plant called a “cracker.” Cracker? Who’s building these things, Triscuit? [“wrong” buzzer, rewind] Cracker? If they were going to use a slur for white people, why not name it Karen or Wonderbread? [“wrong” buzz, rewind] Cracker? What do they think this is, a Ritz quick scheme? [“wrong” buzz, rewind] Cracker? I hardly know her! [slam the “wrong” buzz several times, then rewind] Okay, okay… cracker? I guess the name does make sense. Every time you need to process a new batch of polyethylene, you bring it to the facility and say, “Polly want a cracker?” [ding ding ding] Wow, that was a tough one. I hope at least one of those… cracked you up. [“wrong” buzz] Aw, dammit, I was so close! Anyway, at a cracker plant, they use extreme heat to crack the molecular bonds in the oil or gas to produce a new gas called ethylene. Then, that ethylene can be sent to a new plant where they’ll add a catalyst which initiates a chemical reaction and forms our high-density polyethylene.
ETHAN: Why does all that matter? First off, I had a lot of cracker jokes, but more importantly being a heat intensive process, the production of plastic bags requires a good amount of energy, and it should come as no surprise that these petrochemical facilities typically use natural gas for their electricity source. That’s right, nothing like getting high on your own supply. Hopefully it’s not laced with xylene! In all fairness, every material has a climate impact, and high-density polyethylene is not that bad if you stack its carbon footprint against other materials or even other plastics. But that carbon footprint could also very easily be lower, which is why I bring it up.
ETHAN: Beyond climate though, crackers cause a lot of issues for surrounding communities. I mean, look at all the kids roaming the streets looking for water after eating a single Saltine. Wait, sorry, wrong kind of cracker. Cracker plants release air pollutants such as benzene which is linked to cancer and childhood leukemia, toluene which is linked to birth defects and brain, liver, and kidney problems, formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen, and particulate matter which is linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease and lung and bladder cancer. And beyond that, ethylene itself is a dangerous pollutant. That’s right, it’s always the one you most suspect. [wild west sting] Once ethylene is turned into plastic, it’s not harmful, you’re not going to get a disease just by touching a plastic bag, unless it’s March 2020 when every cashier in America was convinced that’s how Covid spreads. But when ethylene gas escapes the facility and is exposed to sunlight, it turns to smog, which has been associated with increased rates of asthma, lung and respiratory infections, and cardiovascular problems. And honestly, a little sketchy that ethylene can’t handle sunlight. I mean, I know it loves to hang at the cracker plants and all but… wouldn’t it have more fun hanging out with other creatures of the night? In… Staten Island, perhaps?
[string music, inspired by What We Do In The Shadows]
NADJA: After much deliberation, Nandor and I have invited a new resident into the house.
[wind blowing]
NADJA: I believe it is some type of gas.
[wind blowing, floors creaking, various night time sounds]
LASZLO: What I want to know is why I wasn’t consulted in inviting this creature into our home.