Why don paper bags biodegrade in landfills?
Modern landfills lack the oxygen and other conditions that would allow paper bags and other natural materials to biodegrade. Paper and other materials need oxygen to biodegrade. Sunlight and water also help speed up the break down of materials into organic particles again. Landfills pile waste upon waste, blocking air, light, and water. Trash becomes compacted by its own weight until it is a solid mass. The only liquid is not water but a toxic seep, contaminated by the inks on plastic bags as well as by other toxins. The truth is: nothing really biodegrades in a modern landfill. To biodegrade, materials have to be properly composted with a careful mixture of air, light, and water. How many bags are being used? No one really knows. Estimates for annual US usage range from 14 billion bags annually to over 300 billion bags. World wide estimates range in the trillions per year. • A study at UC Berkeley estimated 14 billion plastic bags per year. • The Wall Street Journal put the number at
