Plastic bags--prolific problems. (Recycling).

It's taxed in Ireland and banned in Bangladesh--the convenient, ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. Because of litter problems, the Irish government last year began charging shoppers a 0.15 [euro] tax on every bag used. And after drainage clogs caused by wayward bags contributed to two floods, Bangladesh last year banned them from its capital city.

In the United States, plastic bags are used heavily, and their recycling rate is low. A July 2002 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2000 Facts and Figures, says Americans discarded more than 3.3 million tons of low- and high-density polyethylene bags, sacks, and wraps in 2000. Of those, only 5.4% were recovered. The report puts the recycling rate for all materials at 30.1% in 2000.

The EPA does not see the bags as a big' problem in the United States. "While the EPA would like to see plastics as a whole recycled at a higher rate, plastic bags as a specific commodity haven't been a huge issue," says an agency official. He adds that the problems in Ireland and Bangladesh occurred in part because those countries' waste disposal infrastructures are not as advanced as that of the United States.

But the United States still has room to improve its recycling processes. In July 2002, New York City stopped all plastics recycling because it could no longer afford the vendor's fee for transporting and processing--$65 a ton (for mixed metal and plastics). In July 2003, the city will resume plastics recycling, this time with a company that will pay the city about $5 per ton for the materials. To address similar problems, the EPA is developing "product stewardship" projects to spread recycling costs among all parties involved in the life cycle of products, including manufacturers, consumers, and governments.

Although the costs of recycling can be prohibitive, recycled bags are in demand. "The users of recycled resin would like to purchase more than is currently available," says Thom Metzger, manager of communications at the American Plastics Council, a trade association. Melvin Weiss, president of WeisCo Recycling in Danville, California, agrees. "There's a very open, large market for dean recycled bags," he says. Much of this demand comes from manufacturers of composite plastic building materials. There is also a large market for recycled resin in China.

Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris found most often in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation. Marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles can become entangled in the bags, and sea turtles can mistake them for food such as jellyfish, then die from starvation resulting from intestinal blockage.

Besides litter, the energy and resources used in producing plastic bags are also an issue. They are made from ethylene gas derived from nonrenewable natural gas or crude oil using water, energy, and refrigeration. Still, according to the American Plastics Council, producing a plastic bag uses about 30% less energy than making a paper bag.

But the EPA official says that no one has fully resolved the paper versus plastic debate. The best choice, he says, is neither--bring your own reusable bag.