Bio-bags may be changed to plastic
BRIDGEND council is to look into the environmental and financial costs of replacing its biodegradable food waste bags with plastic ones.
If the council does decide to switch to the cheaper single-use plastic bags, it would follow the lead of Swansea which introduced them earlier this year.
Officers say while it goes against everything currently being published in the press about avoiding single-use plastics, the council could save between £35,000 and £70,000 if it did use them.
In a report, head of neighbourhood services Zak Shell states: “At a time of austerity, this is of relevance to the authority as a move from a degradable sack to a single-use plastic sack potentially offers a saving with seemingly minimal environmental impact.”
The idea was discussed during a meeting looking at what the council could do to help the county become plastic-free.
Speaking at the council meeting, Mr Shell said the current degradable cornstarch sacks being used for food waste were not left to degrade but were burnt.
He said: “The bags are effectively pulled out of the process and sent off as waste which is incinerated and turned into energy.
“With plastic bags, there will be some elements of plastic that goes through the process – it means microscopic amounts of plastic can end up in the fertiliser produced from the anaerobic digestion of food waste.”
He added: “In the waste to energy process, plastic is incinerated so there isn’t any plastic left.
“If the plastic bags were made from recycled plastic, that would certainly lessen the environmental impact of it.”
Councillors agreed to ask officers for more details.