Degradable - Plastic Bags vs Paper Bags
Plastic bags have been unfairly attacked as environmental disasters waiting to happen. The following are some common misconceptions about the plastic bag:
1. Plastic bags take more energy to produce than paper bags.
Paper bags use high amounts of wood, petroleum, and coal. They use the equivalent of 550 KJ of wood as feedstock, 500 KJ of petroleum and 350 KJ of coal for process energy. The total amount of energy used by a single paper bag is 1,680 KJ.
A single plastic bag uses 495 KJ of natural gas, 120 KJ of petroleum, and 80 KJ of coal.
The total amount of energy used by a single plastic bag is 735 KJ.
A SINGLE PLASTIC BAG USES 44% OF THE ENERGY USED BY ONE PAPER BAG!
2. Plastic bags produce more atmospheric waste during production than paper bags.
One paper bag produces 2.6 kg of atmospheric waste.
One plastic bag produces 0.6 kg of atmospheric waste!
As recycling rates for paper increase the atmospheric waste would decrease in the manufacturing process by half but never better than twice the rate of plastics!
A SINGLE PLASTIC BAG PRODUCES LESS THAN 25% OF THE ATMOSPERIC WASTE A PAPER BAG PRODUCES!
3. Plastic bags produce more solid waste than paper.
AT CURRENT RECYCLING RATES ONE PAPER BAG PRODUCES 50g OF SOLID WASTE WHILE ONE PLASTIC BAG PRODUCES 7g!
4. Plastic bags produce more waterborne pollutants than paper bags.
Waterborne pollutants are high during the manufacture of paper bags. Waterborne waste consists of pollutants which harm ecosystems.
A SINGLE PAPER BAG PRODUCES 1.5g OF WATERBORNE WASTE WHILE A SINGLE PLASTIC BAG ONLY PRODUCES 0.1g!
Through a lifecycle energy analysis, plastic is the better bag. At current recycling rates a plastic bag uses less energy and produces less atmospheric, solid, waterborne waste than a single paper bag. Increasing recycling rates would further the energy preference for plastic bags.
Source: Institute for Life Cycle Environmental Assessment. Available online at http://ilea.org/lcas/franklin1990.html
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