What are degradable carrier bags made of?
Normal plastic bags are made from HDPE (high-density polyethylene), LDPE (low-density polyethylene), colouring and chalk. To make them degradable, all we have done is include trace amounts of a special additive. This additive causes the bags to oxidise, meaning that the structure of the plastic is attacked by oxygen causing it to disintegrate more rapidly (i.e. it acts as a catalyst, speeding up a process that happens extremely slowly naturally).Chalk (or calcium carbonate) is added as a modifier to the polyethylene during the film producing process in order to minimise the use of plastic, speed up the production process and improve the physical strength of the bag.
