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stouffville suntribune saturday april 14 2007 3 shredded paper plastic bags causing havoc for region by serena willoughby staff writer what are you putting in your blue box if its plastic bags or shredded paper york region wants you to cut it out wnitchurchstouffville plastic bags become tangled in the sorting equipment and jam recycling machines while shred ded paper gets mixed with other recyclable items contaminating the streams and making those materials harder to recycle an analysis of what was con taminating the waste stream told the region it needed to better inform you about what should be going in your blue box said mike birett yorks manager of diversion for example many people buy flats of plastic water bottles or canned beverages and although the cardboard is recyclable the clear plastic film encasing the beverages isnt part of the challenge for those who operate the regions waste management facility in east gwillimbury is keeping abreast of the different kinds of packaging being produced mr birett said while theyve tried to tailor the facility to accept a variety of items producers are constantly coming up with new kinds of packaging another example is a 15litre water container that sits on top of a water cooler grocery stores tout them as being recyclable but in fact cant be recycled by the regions facility thats why the region is work ing with the province to bring about legislation to make retailers take back packaging such as plas tic bags and styrofoam mr birett said in the early 1990s many stores were beginning to collect packag ing materials but the programs died out as public interest in envi ronmental programs waned he said earlier tliis month a town in manitoba took a different approach to keeping plastic bags out of the waste stream inspired by australia and ire land where levies and bans have reduced the use of plastic bags leaf rapids enacted a bylaw ban ning the bags leaf rapids partnered with bring your own bag bringy- ourbagcom a program that this is what happens when you toss plastic bags into your blue box jammed recycling machines the region is studying the possibility of expanding its waste management facility in east gwillimbury to recycle more items such as plastic bags works to reduce the amount of plastic bags produced we dont think everywhere could ban plastic bags tomorrow spokesperson matt wittek said thats why the group spends much of its time working to bring awareness to the environmental cost of plastic bags i dont think a lot of people know plastic bags are that bad for the environment he said explaining only a small percent age of the bag can be recycled not to mention the they are made of a fossil fuelbased nonrenewable resource mr birett agreed the best option is always for the producer to voluntarily take responsibility for their waste if we have to use municipal resources to enforce a bylaw on plastic bags the taxpayer is ulti mately paying for it he said some companies already incorporate programs to decrease your reliance on plastic bags among them is the grocery chain no frills which charges you for each bag you use all dominion and ap stores accept used plastic bags at their locations even ones they didnt produce which they recycle with other plastic film from their stores 1 dont think a lot of people know plastic bags are that bad for the environment bring your own bag spokesperson matt wittek retailers such as ikea shop pers drug mart dominiona p and cotton ginny also offer low cost reusable bags the region is studying the pos sibility of expanding its waste management facility in east gwillimbury to allow it to recycle more items such as plastic bags but recycling shredded paper is not planned because shredding ruins the paper fibre making it nearly impossible the recycle you should minimize the amount of paper you shred the region says only putting paper with confidential information through the shredder for now those who live in markham richmond hill and vaughan where green bin pro grams are in place can put shred ded paper in their green boxes and can use plastic bags to line them yorks northern six municipali ties newmarket aurora east gwillimbury georgina whitchurchstouffville and king wont have green box programs until september your best bet for keeping shred ded paper and plastic bags out of the waste stream is returning plas tic bags to a retailer and putting shredded paper in your back yard corriposter for more information on york regions efforts to improve produc er responsibility go to www amrccapolicy drafteprpdf for information and a list of retailers involved in campaigns to reduce reliance on plastic bags go to wwwbnngyourbagcom great moments in plastic bag history 1957 the first baggies and sandwich bags on a roll are introduced 1958 poly dry cleaning bags compete with traditional brown paper 1966 plastic bag use in bread pack aging takes over 25 to 30 per cent of the market 1966 plastic produce bags on a roll are introduced in grocery stores 1969 the new york city sanitation department demonstrates plastic refuse bag curbside pickup is cleaner safer and quieter than metal trash can pick up beginning a shift to plastic can liners among consumers 1973 the first commercial system for manufacturing plastic grocery bags becomes operational 197475 retailing giants such as sears jc penney montgomery ward jordan marsh and allied switch to plastic merchandise bags 1977 the plastic grocery bag is intro duced to the supermarket industry as an alternative to paper 1982 kroger and safeway start to replace traditional craft sacks with poly ethylene tshirt bags 1990 the first blue bag recycling pro gram begins with curbside collection 1990 consumer plastic bag recycling begins through a supermarket collec tionsite network 1992 nearly half of us supermarkets have recycling available for plastic bags 1996 four of five grocery bags used are plastic source wwwplasticbagcom whats so bad about plastic bags 100 million plastic bags a week go to landfills plastic bags can take 15 to 1000 years to break down each year an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide north america goes through 110 billion plastic shopping bags annually plastic bags dont biodegrade they photodegrade breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that con taminate soil and waterways production of plastic bags requires vast amounts of oil hundreds of thousands of sea tur tles whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food source wwwbringyourbagcom experience our relaxing day spa hot stone massage spa manicures body wraps spa pedicures electrolysis and much more introductory special book an aesthetic service and receive a second for half price medispa clinic on main 6038 main street stouffville 905640 wwwmedispacl