People have different opinions about plastic bag and paper bag use. To enlighten your mind, we came up with the pros and cons so you can weigh in an objective view that will be beneficial to your company as you source out the best packaging for products.
Environment-Friendly. Paper bags are eco-friendly because they are 100% biodegradable, reusable, and recyclable. Paper bags decompose naturally during the recycling process, unlike plastics, which emit toxins and hazardous gases when recycling them. A colorful paper bag can also be recycled and reused as shopping bags or organizers.
Special Paper Bags are Heavy-Duty. Contrary to popular belief that paper bags have a weak structure, there are unique paper bags that are heavy-duty, and able to withstand pressure. They are thicker and carry a high paper basis weight of about 50 pounds.
Safe for Children and Animals. Paper bags are less likely to suffocate people and animals. With that being said, if you are in the business of selling items to children and animals, you using paper bags as packaging is safer than using plastics.
Durable and Fashionable. Paper bags come in different sizes, styles, and designs. Depending on the type, designer paper bags can carry medium to heavyweight items and look elegant at the same time. Here is the brown paper bag size chart you can look at.
Useful in Brand Promotions and Marketing. Lastly, paper bags with logos, you can use paper bags to create brand awareness as you design them with the colors based on your branding and include logos and taglines as one of your print-ad strategies.
Not Waterproof. Once the paper is exposed to liquid and steam, it will not be useful because it will deform and unable to carry items. Plastics, on the other hand, can still hold off items even if they get wet.
Not as Strong as Plastic Bags. True enough, paper bags may have their limitations, especially when it comes to packing heavy materials. Plastics can hold off liquids and come in handy even in bad weather, whereas paper bags will be deformed when exposed to solutions. Like how baguette bread bags can get wet and rip when expose to liquid syrup.
More Expensive and Requires More Materials in Production. Paper bag production causes air pollution and emits 70 more air pollutants and 50% more water pollutants than plastic production. Moreover, you need more water, greenhouse gases, and chemicals to produce papers. So, the production itself requires more energy consumption.
Take More Storage Space. Since paper bags are heavier than plastics, you need more space to store them, especially if you order in bulk. Aside from that, you will also pay more on shipping costs if they come from overseas.
Manufacturing Requires Cutting of Trees. Americans consume more than 10 billion paper bags annually, equivalent to cutting 14 million trees to produce paper.
Lightweight and Water-Resistant. Plastics don’t take too much space, unlike plastic bags, and they are light, which only requires limited storage space. They are also water-resistant and practical all ‘year-round.
Durable and Functional. Plastic bags can carry heavy materials, especially if they are made of thick materials.
Affordable Packaging Material. If you plan to buy in bulk, plastic bags cost less than a cent. Unlike paper bags, you shell out five cents or more when ordering in bulk.
Production Requires Few Energy Consumption and Environment-Friendly. Producing plastics is less expensive and less complicated because it only requires low energy and less solid waste than paper bags.
Great Tool to Promote Your Brand. You can also print your brand’s name, logo, and tagline on plastic bags, making them a great tool to create brand awareness.
Harmful to the Environment. Improper waste management of plastic bags can harm the environment that can clog rivers and even sewage systems in the cities. It can cause litter everywhere — from the streets to fences, to trees, and more.
Danger to Marine and Wild Life and Contaminate Food Sources. Marine and wildlife animals can consume these plastics, which leads to suffocation, death, and even contamination of food sources.
Decomposition Takes 1,000 Years. Plastics break down through photodegrades, which means they break down through light. The process may take about hundreds of years and even up to 1,000 years to decompose, which takes up spaces on landfills.
Hard to Recycle. While plastic bag production is environmentally friendly, recycling is complex and less sustainable. It also requires machinery to segregate and recycle plastics, which are unfortunately not available in developing countries.
Countries like Bangladesh, Kenya, France, China, to name a few, have already banned plastic bags to protect the environment. Now that you know the benefits and repercussions of using paper bags and plastic bags, you can make an informed decision on your packaging materials.
Paper bags are eco-friendly in terms of use and functionality. If you care about the environment, then paper bags are a sure win for the brand, community, and nature.
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Look in almost any newspaper on any weekend and you will find an article about local governments that are considering taxing, banning or somehow regulating plastic bags. It is becoming undeservedly easy to hate the lowly plastic bag!
These articles usually leave out the facts as well as the comparison research. Take an honest look at what is required to produce 1000 plastic bags versus 1000 comparable paper bags. If the media would present the facts, as intelligent people we could make accurately informed decisions.
Keep in mind, Nashville Wraps sells both paper and plastic bags. In fact, we derive much more of our revenue from paper bags.
A factual comparison follows:
1000 Grocery Size Shopping Bags
140 lbs.
15 lbs.
Cubic Feet17.8 cu. feet
0.4 cu. feet
Cost$230
$35
Shipping$28
$3
Total Cost$258
$38
Diesel used in transit0.58 gallons
0.06 gallons
Biodegradable?yes
yes
Recyclable?yes
yes
Air Emissions3.225 lbs. solids
1.62 lbs. solids
Petroleum used3.67 lbs.
1.62 lbs.
BTUs required1,629,000
649,000
Indefinite recycled life?no
yes
USA raw materials?yes
yes
Shipping assumes truck freight at $20/cwt for 1,000 miles average. 6 mile per gallon hauling 40,000 lbs in a full truck load. Emission and BTU data from The University of Texas at Austin, Michigan Technological University, and the US Environmental Protection Agency 2001. Bags are compared with new materials. Plastic bags require less energy to collect and recycle than paper bags.
Litter is the core issue because plastic bags of the past were slow to degrade or did not degrade at all. That was then, now plastic bags can be biodegradable. We do not have to ban a good product. A recent article in USA Today by Judy Keen states that litter is down in San Francisco due to the ban on grocery store PE bags. Is that true or are citizens more aware and acting more responsibly?
There is less foreign oil used to make plastic bags than there is to make paper ones, because less energy is required. True, some PE is made from oil derivatives; but examine the source of that PE resin. Years ago, Asian resin was used to make the plastic bags that we sold. Today the Asian governments no longer subsidize PE resin. Current sources are primarily domestic and derived from Natural Gas (ethane) and a by-product of the distillation of crude oil (foreign or domestic) but not the oil itself. Ethane is similar to propane, butane and other natural gases. Ethane Extraction is being revolutionized with outstanding new science. All of the plastic bags sold by Nashville Wraps are made in the USA with a minimum of 25% recycled plastics – some as high as 100%. Less and less new materials, ethane or otherwise are needed to manufacture plastic bags.
Plastic bags do not “down cycle”, meaning plastic bags can beget plastic bags ad infinitum. On the other hand, paper has a limited recyclable life span. The fibers break down too much after continued re-pulping. At the end of papers recyclable life it can be used in fillers and lower grade materials. Both paper and plastic are easy to recycle these days, paper just costs more and requires more energy to recycle. Plastic bags hit the re-grinder and in 45 minutes are new plastic bags. I have seen it happen.
We favor legislation that would require HDPE plastic bags under 1.0 mil to be degradable. (Nashville Wraps has already adopted this standard). Emphatically, PE (polyethylene) based and not PLA (corn based) plastic bags. PLA is not recyclable! It is “Compostable”. There is a huge difference. PLA bags would disrupt the recycling of normal PE plastic bags and initially they cost as much as paper. PLA is great for many products, just not grocery bags in our opinion.
Without boring you will all the scientific data (it is available, see resources below) there is a new additive that we put into HDPE plastic grocery bags. It helps the PE molecules biodegrade. This process takes place aerobically or anaerobically. It takes place with or without the presence of light. These factors promote biodegradation even in landfill conditions which are normally not conducive to biodegradation. (See ECM Products Overview). Paper will biodegrade when oxygen and moisture are present neither of which are readily available in landfills.
Well, now we know that neither paper or plastic bags are particularly bad, they just have different properties. Nashville Wraps favors responsible products, both paper and plastic when made in the USA from recycled US materials by emission reducing processes. It is just that simple.
The free market system works. Informed people make informed choices. Paper or plastic? You decide which is best for your needs as both are good and sustainable products.
R Meadows, Nashville Wraps
Nashville Wraps is the leader in eco-friendly gift & gourmet packaging. Our focus is beautiful packaging, competitive prices, fast shipping and taking care of our customers. We listen, and we care about your success. Most of all, we want to make your business look good.
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