GEJI 2009: Project Plastic Bags

Coles fail to enforce environmental initiatives to combat Australia’s plastic bag consumption, despite clear company policies to encourage the use of Green Bags as Claire Morgan, Eric Barnes, Emily Ackew, Paul Nee find out.

For four decades they’ve been one of the most prominent symbols of environmental degradation. Blamed for killing marine life, polluting landscapes, even contributing to Bangladesh’s catastrophic floods, plastic shopping bags are a daily reminder of our dependence on disposable and petrochemical-derived modern convenience. Rees Steel reports.

One year ahead of the UK government deadline for tangible reductions in plastic bag consumption, the government anti-waste body, Wrap (Waste and Resources Programme) reports hopeful figures writes Emma Godfrey.