The Nanyang Technological University research team include senior reearch fellow Andrei Veksha, Assistant Professor Grzegorz Lisak, and research associate Ashiq Ahamed. — Picture courtesy of NTU via TODAY
The NTU scientists came to this conclusion after carrying out a life-cycle analysis of five types of bags to evaluate their environmental impact associated with its production, distribution, transportation, waste collection, treatment and end-of-life disposal. “It is essential to evaluate the implications case by case for dealing with plastic waste,” the director of the Residues & Resource Reclamation Centre at the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute said.
“In a well-structured, closed metropolitan waste management system with incineration treatment, using plastic bags may be the best option that is currently available, provided that there is no significant leakage of waste into the environment,” he added. In places such as Singapore, where waste is incinerated, the timeline of biodegradation of paper, cotton and other biodegradable materials is irrelevant.
Plastic bags can be reused. The processing of cotton is terrible for the environment