As bans on carrier bags are being introduced in towns throughout the country, we’ve looked into the pros and cons of using plastic:
The Pro’s
• If retailers switched to paper bags it would put an extra 32,000 lorries just on London’s roads to deliver them because they would weigh 6 x times more, which isn’t exactly environmentally friendly.
• Manufacturing a plastic bag uses one third of the energy, which means half the pollution and one eighth of the raw material requirement of a paper bag.
• When paper bags degrade in landfills they give off CO2 or Methane gases which are harmful to the environment, plastic does not release greenhouse gases.
The Con’s .
• Carrier bags can be carelessly disregarded and blown around the towns and countryside contributing to serious litter problems.
• Most plastic bags are not degradable and the ones that are can degrade into small segments that might become harmful to animals if eaten.
• It is suggested that as plastic bags are derived from oil, we should avoid using plastic bags to save oil.

The ban of carrier bags in Ireland has led to an increase in bin liners by 77% and nappy bags by 84% to compensate.
Plastic bags are always going to be needed, for example to transport important blood and plasma products for hospitals or to transport potentially hazardous products which are made safe by containment in plastic film or sacks.
Also new buildings are made damp proof with plastic film.
Perhaps the attention needs to focus on excessive use of plastic, for example shops double bagging for heavier items due to downgrading their bags for cost cutting purposes and making all packaging bio-degradable at a faster pace and recycled.
Upton Packaging offer bio-degradable packaging and cotton bags if you are looking for an alternative to plastic.