16 Facts About Plastic bags

Plastic bags bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile.

Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, chemicals, and waste.

Some Plastic bags have gussets to allow a higher volume of contents, special stand-up pouches have the ability to stand up on a shelf or a refrigerator, and some have easy-opening or reclosable options.

Plastic bags have low recycling rates due to lack of separation ability.

Some Plastic bags are sealed for tamper-evident capability, including some where the press-to-reseal feature becomes accessible only when a perforated outer seal has torn away.

Boil-in-Plastic bags are often used for sealed frozen foods, sometimes complete entrees.

The Plastic bags are usually tough heat-sealed nylon or polyester to withstand the temperatures of boiling water.

Some Plastic bags are porous or perforated to allow the hot water to contact the food: rice, noodles, etc.

The non-porous quality of plastic film means that they are useful for isolating infectious body fluids; other porous bags made of nonwoven plastics can be sterilized by gas and maintain this sterility.

Moderate quality evidence from a 2018 systematic review showed that plastic wraps or bags prevented hypothermia compared to routine care, especially in extremely preterm infants.

American and European patent applications relating to the production of plastic shopping bags can be found dating back to the early 1950s, but these refer to composite constructions with handles fixed to the bag in a secondary manufacturing process.

Plastic bags are mostly made out of petroleum products and natural gas.

Plastic bags are not capable of biodegradation but rather they photodegrade, a process by which the plastic bags are broken down into smaller toxic parts.

When plastic shopping bags are not disposed of properly, they can end up in streams, which then lead them to end up in the open ocean.

Plastic bags is a breeding ground for algae, so the sea birds mistakenly eat the bag rather than the fish that typically ingests algae.

Plastic bags do not do well in the environment, but several government studies have found them to be an environmentally friendly carryout bag option.