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The Life and times of plastic bags

The question used to be 'paper or plastic?', now, the debate is disposable versus reusable.

  • By Sarah Crespi and Karl Gude, Gulf News
  • Published: 00:09 May 8, 2008
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  • We track its journey that starts with plastic nurdles to a bag that takes nearly forever to completely break down. All plastics are made from petroleum or natural gas. About 3 per cent of all oil ends up as plastic every year. To make shopping bags, first nurdles (plastic pellets) or flakes are melted. The melted plastic is pushed through a ring-shaped hole, which creates a thin, hollow tube of hot plastic. Air is blown into the tube and the film is then cooled and cut.
  • Image Credit: By Karl Gude/Gulf News
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