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This might sound strange coming from a paper bag manufacturer but I am not against plastic bags. I believe there is a place for both paper and plastic on the market and when used wisely they both have benefits and strengths that benefit the consumer. What I have an issue with are false claims and greenwashing of certain products along with manufacturers using the public lack of knowledge to their advantage.
We all now know most of the downsides to plastic bags and why many regions are reducing their use or banning them altogether. As well as paper here are 3 basic plastic alternatives; recycled plastics, biodegradable plastics and bioplastics, these are what I would like to discuss.
Recycled plastics
This material is, as you would expect, made from recycled plastic, not just from carrier bags but all kinds of objects with the appropriate type of plastic. The material has a more recycled feel, is usually not quite as printable and not quite as strong as regular plastic bags. These bags have all the same pros and cons as a standard plastic bag just with a slightly greener label.
Bioplastic
Varied material types often made from natural materials like corn starch or sugar cane. These bags can biodegrade, are better at composting and bacteria can digest this in a safer way than biodegradable plastic. It does not create carbon dioxide as the plant has already absorbed that when growing. The issues begin with using farmland to grow non-food products, making less food available to a rapidly growing population as well as pushing prices up. We are all aware that the earths population is growing at a staggering rate and most global institutions say that the big global crisis of this century will be food and water based. Once again Bioplastic is very difficult to recycle and impossible with the current infrastructure. Plastics that use byproducts of the farming industry like sugar cane stalks often claim that this is a waste product when very often these are used as natural fertilisers needing to be replaced with more environmentally damaging chemicals.
Dirty Secret
Biodegradable plastics, these came into the market with a big green fanfare as a plastic bag that can decompose in the environment. Many large companies took the bags in large numbers and then quietly dropped them with the only users now being those coming later to greener packaging but without fully researching the market (or perhaps falling victim to very good sales people). These are made from standard oil based plastic with additives that enable them to decay in oxygen or sunlight and often claiming composability. So why have companies dropped this product? Well for a number of reasons. They still need the same oil based production process though with additives. They still take time to degrade (from 12 weeks to 2 years as claimed) and these claims are a grey area in most cases. For most products the bag just breaks down into smaller pieces and enters the food chain at a more microscopic level. Due to the heat required composting is only really possible in industrial composters, try it yourself in your own compost heap for 12 weeks and see what happens to a &#;compostable&#; bag or just google other people&#;s results. There is often a residue when composted too, try it on your cabbages if you want. Plus even just 12 weeks in the environment is also more than enough time to kill wildlife, block drains cause flooding, etc. Now for the big minus, the dirty secret, the vast majority of these bags CANNOT be recycled and in larger numbers can do serious damage to current recycling equipment. We in the industry know this but the general public has no idea. The manufacturers are happy to put often questionable compostability claims but I have never seen a bag with a &#;do not recycle&#; warning on the base. As you cannot recycle it the bag basically has to go to landfill with little light and oxygen they degrade slower, releasing methane, not to be seen again until it is dug up in a few hundred years.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit bio plastic bag manufacturer.
A view from the paper side
So what is my conclusion as a manufacturer of paper bags to this? If I am beaten to a contract by standard plastic bags (above 60 microns), even though I&#;m not happy about it, or agree with the environmental aspects, I can live with it. Plastic is often the cheaper alternative and if that&#;s the way the customer wants to go, so be it. The same goes for recycled plastic, I just hope the end user recycles it and that the bag doesn&#;t end up in the environment. If they go for bioplastic then I would be very interested to see if the raw material is grown on farmland and just as importantly if it can be recycled by current methods. I haven&#;t yet seen a bioplastic I would feel comfortable using as a retail carrier bag. If the customer has gone for biodegradable plastic then I get quite frustrated that these are still an option. It&#;s a one hit use of a valuable earth resource that uses greenwashing as a way to justify using cheap plastic bags. If legislation stated &#;this bag cannot be recycled&#; had to be printed on every bag would people still use it? I&#;m sure there are applications for biodegradable plastic but as far as I am concerned there aren&#;t any in direct competition to my products.
Some questions for your bio plastic supplier
Future and Alternative?
There may well be products in the market that provide better results than I have stated here and new materials are developed all the time. We do need a biodegradable material that is recyclable, does not require farmland or irrigation, does not harm the land or oceans if inadvertently dropped. For retail use that material exists and it&#;s called paper.
I always like to provide verifiable facts from reliable sources and institutions so if anyone would like further details to back up the text then please contact me directly.
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