Rampant use of polythene bags still common in India| Ghanti Bajao

Despite a blanket ban on the use and distribution of polythene covers, plastic carry bags are back into usage.
Plastic bags exposed to sunlight for long enough do undergo physical breakdown. Ultra-violet rays turn the plastic brittle, breaking it into ever smaller pieces. The small fragments then mix with soil, lake sediments, are picked up by streams, or end up contributing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other oceanic trash deposits.