Where do Unwanted, Unrecycled Plastic Bags Go?

Plastic bags don’t biodegrade. But something must happen to them. They don’t disappear just because you throw them away.
In landfills, plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to break down.
As litter exposed to sunlight, plastic bags photodegrade, breaking down into small, toxic pieces. Those pieces pollute our land, lakes, rivers and oceans. Plastic bits look like food to marine life. Look at the jellyfish photo to the right. Can’t you see a turtle mistaking a plastic bag for a jellyfish?
When fish eat plastic pieces, that not only hurts them, but it can hurt you if it enters the food chain. …read more