UK Study Reveals The Green Side Of Plastic

Compared to other carrier bags, plastic is the better choice when it comes to long term impact on the environment. 

Vancouver, Canada (April 6, 2011) – A recent study comparing the environmental benefits of carrier bag alternatives has raised some serious questions as to whether the vilification of the common plastic bag is justified. The UK Environmental Agency (EA) is the leading public body protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. Their most recent report on Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags highlights that light-weight, plastic carrier bags are not necessarily the blight on society that they are commonly portrayed to be. 

In fact, the in-depth life cycle assessment (LCA) that compares global warming potentials for different types of bags indicates that these light-weight plastic bags compare favorably with many of the alternatives that are touted as being more environmentally responsible.  According to the LCA, Paper, starch-based, and cotton alternatives all have higher global warming potential than the conventional plastic bag. The EA found that a cotton shopping bag has to be re-used at least 131 times to have less environmental impact than a standard single-use plastic bag. Paper bags would have to be used at least 3 times to have less environmental impact than the single-use plastic bag. In actuality most cotton bags are used only 51 times and paper bags are discarded immediately, making them worse than single-use plastic bags.

The key to reducing the impact of all types of carrier bags is to reuse them as much as possible. Re-using lightweight carrier bags as bin liners produces greater benefits than recycling bags due to the benefits of avoiding the production of the bin liners they replace. Even with only a single use option The HDPE bag has the lowest environmental impact, in nine out of the 10 impact categories. Furthermore, the report points out that the benefits of recycling and composting are not significant when it comes to carrier bags and that re-using the bags is a much better environmental practice.

 While the study falls short in recognizing the benefits of oxo-biodegradable additives in addressing the problem of plastic waste accumulation and persistence in the environment, there is no doubt that the report conclusions are in favor of conventional plastic carrier bags. The study shows that the attacks on the conventional plastic bag by the media, environmentalists and bioplastics lobbyists are unfounded.

 EPI Environmental Products Inc., as a producer of oxo-biodegradable additives used to render conventional plastics degradable and biodegradable, welcomes this type of scientific approach to examining environmental benefits.  EPI’s Totally Degradable Plastic Additives® are distributed all throughout the world to manufacturers who produce plastic carrier bags, films, packaging, covers, and a wide variety of other applications. Established in 1991 in Canada, EPI Environmental Technologies Inc. (EPI) with its UK subsidiary EPI (Europe) Ltd. (EPI) has become a world leader in making plastics environmentally responsible.

Alternative to Plastic Bags Sparks Widespread Health Concerns

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) funded research report, ‘Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags,’ has sparked intense media attention and public health concerns across the world.

Startling conclusions in the ACC report found that coliform bacteria including E.Coli were in half the bags that were tested.  The bacteria was capable of growth when stored in trunks of cars and a large amount of bacteria was found in every reusable bag but none found in new bags or plastic bags.  The study concluded that almost all consumers don’t wash their reusable bag which is the contributing factor to bacteria growth.  The study also found that hand or machine washing reduced the bacteria in reusable bags by more than 99.9%.

According to the Telegraph newspaper in the UK, “Reusable shopping bags are a threat to public health,” the popularity of reusable eco-friendly shopping bags has soared in Britain much like the US. Tests on shoppers’ bags revealed half contained traces of E.coli, a lethal toxin which killed 26 people in Scotland in 1996 in one of the world’s worst food poisoning outbreaks.  Scientists also found many were contaminated with salmonella. American TV station ABC also reports on this debated topic with the following video, “Are Bacteria in your reusable shopping bag??”

Not only do reusable bags contribute to potential health risks, they’re heavier and consume more volume than plastic bags which require more trucks to transport and increases the harmful greenhouse gas emissions within our environment.  Eventually a reusable bag will enter the landfill and due to their density they take up greater landfill space than plastic bags.  During the degradation process, reusable bags such as cotton/jute bags produce methane in the landfill.  Jute bags are made out of fertilized crops that deplete our natural resources as they require water and energy resources to fertilize these crops.   The Plastics and Rubber Weekly (PRW) publication reported in November of 2009 concerns raised from the UK Carrier Bag Consortium (CBC):  During the manufacturing process, Jute and cotton bags are dipped in paraffin/petroleum before leaving for the UK to kill the eggs of parasites which lay in the rolls of raw material in un-sanitised storage conditions. The CBC also brought to light about the working age, conditions, hygiene, air quality and many other aspects of the jute industry which has been reported by the national media.

The debate surrounding carrier bag alternatives can be quite confusing for the average person who really just want to do the right thing.  Not to mention the abundance of greenwashing claims from brands we trust.  In order to truly reduce our environmental impact while not posing additional health risks to our loved ones and ourselves; one really needs to do their homework to consider all factors when choosing what carrier bag you’re going to carry home from your grocery store.