Biodegradable plastic bags not so biodegradable by Vicki Stein the average person uses a typical plastic bag for as short a time as 12 minutes before throwing it away never thinking of where it may end up yet once consigned to a landfill that standard grocery store tote takes hundreds or thousands of years to break down much more than a human lifetime bags make up an alarming amount of plastic found in whale stomachs or bird nests and is no wonder globally we use between one and five trillion plastic bags each year biodegradable plastic bags are marked as more eco-friendly solutions able to break down into harmless material more quickly than traditional plastics one company claims their shopping bag "will degrade and biodegrade in a continuous irreversible and unstoppable process" if it ends up as litter in the environment in a study published this week in environmental science and technology researchers put supposedly eco-friendly bags made from various organic and plastic materials and sourced from UK stores to the test after 3 years buried in garden soil submerged in ocean water exposed to open light and air or stashed in a laboratory none of the bags broke down completely in all the environments in fact the biodegradable bags that had been left underwater in a marina could still hold a full load of groceries " what is the role of some of these really innovative and novel polymers?" Asked Richard Thompson a marine biologist from the University of Plymouth and the studies senior author of polymer is a repeating chain of chemicals that made up of plastic structure whether biodegradable or synthetic " they are challenging to recycle and are very slow to degrade if they become litter in the environment," Thompson said suggesting these biodegradable plastics maybe causing more problems than they solve. What scientist found even in a tough marine environment where algae and animals quickly covered the plastic three years wasn't long enough to break down any of the plastics except for the plant-based compostable auction which did disappear underwater within 3 months the plant drive bags however remain intact but we can when buried under garden soil for 27 months the only treatment that consistently broke down all the bags was exposure to open air for more than 9 months and in that case even the standard traditional polyethylene bag disintegrated into pieces before 18 months had passed " I would take that time scale to be too long for these products to be regarded as providing an environmental advantage," Thompson said even if these bags take less time to break down the traditional plastic bags as litter they would still have enough time to become potentially deadly food for ocean animals like seabirds whales turtles or fish moreover they would still be an eyesore and take up space at waste facilities for months or years and when some of the plastics did seem to break down such as the bags left to the open air it was unclear if the disintegration was complete " did the plastic that was lost just become smaller pieces of plastic?" Kalow asked, " or did it become molecules that could dissolve in water and be consumed?" Future study, she said should dig into the feet of those disintegrated plastic particles to ascertain whether they truly break down and disappear or become microplastics and harmful chemicals why it matters. Even standard plastic bags can't be recycled from your home recycling bin so most end up in landfills or swept away by water or wind becoming litter biodegradable and compostable bags or meant to solve these problems by the study indicated that's not the case so far these alternative bags are meant to end up as litter in the street or in the natural environment ideally they'd be treated just as manufacturers expected biodegradable bags would be landfilled or in some cases recycled into new plastics at least in theory but " even if we can make something that's recyclable that doesn't mean any commercial recycling plant would be interested in dealing with it," Kalow said biodegradable plastics can't generally be recycled with other plastics in fact they can ruin other batches of recycled plastics degrading the product until it becomes unusable meanwhile the ego conscious should hope they're compostable bags end up in industrial composting facilities were high temperatures and favorable conditions for bacteria and other living things would break them down compostable bags and chilly oxygen starved landfills can actually be preserved rather than destroyed these are the real problems Tompkins said labels like "biodegradable" "compostable" or even "recyclable" are theoretical they don't reflect the reality of what happens to the materials we throw away or litter into the oceans and they don't help people accurately understand how to get rid of them 3 years after the researchers plastic bags were buried or Smurfs they were nearly as useful and as harmful as the day they were made some simple solutions might help pumpkin suggested that standardized products made of the same sets of materials could streamline are waste Management systems and allow much more of our ways to be profitably recycled Kalow the polymer chemist said there may yet be hope for new improved biodegradable plastics if only we could discover that technology in the meantime it doesn't hurt to remember your reusable bag on your way to the store use this article to answer the question and three to five sentences identify the author's argument then identify at least one example of valid reasoning and explain how that example strengthens the overall argument

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The author's argument is that biodegradable plastic bags are not as environmentally friendly or effective as they are marketed to be, and they often pose similar or greater risks than traditional plastic bags. One example of valid reasoning is the study's findings that even after three years in various environments, none of the supposedly eco-friendly bags fully degraded, with some still able to hold groceries after being submerged in seawater. This example strengthens the overall argument by illustrating that these biodegradable bags fail to decompose as intended, which means they can contribute to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution in oceans and landfills, rather than providing a sustainable solution.

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Biodegradable plastic bags not so biodegradable by Vicki Stein the average person uses a typical plastic bag for as short a time as 12 minutes before throwing it away never thinking of where it may end up yet once consigned to a landfill that standard grocery store tote takes hundreds or thousands of years to break down much more than a human lifetime bags make up an alarming amount of plastic found in whale stomachs or bird nests and is no wonder globally we use between one and five trillion plastic bags each year biodegradable plastic bags are marked as more eco-friendly solutions able to break down into harmless material more quickly than traditional plastics one company claims their shopping bag "will degrade and biodegrade in a continuous irreversible and unstoppable process" if it ends up as litter in the environment in a study published this week in environmental science and technology researchers put supposedly eco-friendly bags made from various organic and plastic materials and sourced from UK stores to the test after 3 years buried in garden soil submerged in ocean water exposed to open light and air or stashed in a laboratory none of the bags broke down completely in all the environments in fact the biodegradable bags that had been left underwater in a marina could still hold a full load of groceries " what is the role of some of these really innovative and novel polymers?" Asked Richard Thompson a marine biologist from the University of Plymouth and the studies senior author of polymer is a repeating chain of chemicals that made up of plastic structure whether biodegradable or synthetic " they are challenging to recycle and are very slow to degrade if they become litter in the environment," Thompson said suggesting these biodegradable plastics maybe causing more problems than they solve. What scientist found even in a tough marine environment where algae and animals quickly covered the plastic three years wasn't long enough to break down any of the plastics except for the plant-based compostable auction which did disappear underwater within 3 months the plant drive bags however remain intact but we can when buried under garden soil for 27 months the only treatment that consistently broke down all the bags was exposure to open air for more than 9 months and in that case even the standard traditional polyethylene bag disintegrated into pieces before 18 months had passed " I would take that time scale to be too long for these products to be regarded as providing an environmental advantage," Thompson said even if these bags take less time to break down the traditional plastic bags as litter they would still have enough time to become potentially deadly food for ocean animals like seabirds whales turtles or fish moreover they would still be an eyesore and take up space at waste facilities for months or years and when some of the plastics did seem to break down such as the bags left to the open air it was unclear if the disintegration was complete " did the plastic that was lost just become smaller pieces of plastic?" Kalow asked, " or did it become molecules that could dissolve in water and be consumed?" Future study, she said should dig into the feet of those disintegrated plastic particles to ascertain whether they truly break down and disappear or become microplastics and harmful chemicals why it matters. Even standard plastic bags can't be recycled from your home recycling bin so most end up in landfills or swept away by water or wind becoming litter biodegradable and compostable bags or meant to solve these problems by the study indicated that's not the case so far these alternative bags are meant to end up as litter in the street or in the natural environment ideally they'd be treated just as manufacturers expected biodegradable bags would be landfilled or in some cases recycled into new plastics at least in theory but " even if we can make something that's recyclable that doesn't mean any commercial recycling plant would be interested in dealing with it," Kalow said biodegradable plastics can't generally be recycled with other plastics in fact they can ruin other batches of recycled plastics degrading the product until it becomes unusable meanwhile the ego conscious should hope they're compostable bags end up in industrial composting facilities were high temperatures and favorable conditions for bacteria and other living things would break them down compostable bags and chilly oxygen starved landfills can actually be preserved rather than destroyed these are the real problems Tompkins said labels like "biodegradable" "compostable" or even "recyclable" are theoretical they don't reflect the reality of what happens to the materials we throw away or litter into the oceans and they don't help people accurately understand how to get rid of them 3 years after the researchers plastic bags were buried or Smurfs they were nearly as useful and as harmful as the day they were made some simple solutions might help pumpkin suggested that standardized products made of the same sets of materials could streamline are waste Management systems and allow much more of our ways to be profitably recycled Kalow the polymer chemist said there may yet be hope for new improved biodegradable plastics if only we could discover that technology in the meantime it doesn't hurt to remember your reusable bag on your way to the store use this article to answer the question and three to five sentences identify the author's argument then identify at least one example of valid reasoning and explain how that example strengthens the overall argument

1 answer

The author's argument is that biodegradable plastic bags are not as environmentally friendly or effective as they are marketed to be, and they often pose similar or greater risks than traditional plastic bags. One example of valid reasoning is the study's findings that even after three years in various environments, none of the supposedly eco-friendly bags fully degraded, with some still able to hold groceries after being submerged in seawater. This example strengthens the overall argument by illustrating that these biodegradable bags fail to decompose as intended, which means they can contribute to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution in oceans and landfills, rather than providing a sustainable solution.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The author's argument is that biodegradable plastic bags are not as environmentally friendly or effective as they are marketed to be, and they often pose similar or greater risks than traditional plastic bags. One example of valid reasoning is the study's findings that even after three years in various environments, none of the supposedly eco-friendly bags fully degraded, with some still able to hold groceries after being submerged in seawater. This example strengthens the overall argument by illustrating that these biodegradable bags fail to decompose as intended, which means they can contribute to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution in oceans and landfills, rather than providing a sustainable solution.