"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"
Colin Butterfield
Just like yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again” Well meaning environmental groups are condemning
the plastic bag just as they did 20 years ago but a new development in plastic bag technology looks like a
real solution to the old arguments.
Last time the cry was “use paper not plastic”, this time there’s a drive to encourage the use of reusable
cloth bags and in some jurisdictions local bylaws have even been promoted to ban plastic bags in grocery
stores altogether in favour of recycled paper bags or “bring your own bag” The arguments this time are
that the use of plastic bags over paper bags is environmentally preferable and that using plastic bags
promotes global warming, and of course that discarded plastic bags persist in the environment
indefinitely, but a new development in plastic bag technology looks like a real answer to the arguments.
Will this trend impact the cleaning industry? Maybe. Do we have an answer to this new challenge? Of
course! The cleaning industry is one of the most forward looking and adaptable industries on the
continent, nonetheless when dealing with clients who may have issues as far as bags are concerned it is
important that we are knowledgeable on the subject,
Comparing paper and plastic, the facts are well established.Paper comes from trees - and lots of them.
The logging industry is huge and the process to make paper bags is long and environmentally taxing.
First, the trees are found, marked and felled. Machinery is then used to remove the logs from the forest
floor- whether it by logging trucks or, in more remote areas, helicopters. Machinery requires fossil fuel and
road building which destroys habitat. Machinery is used to strip the bark, and the wood is then chipped
and cooked under heat and pressure. This wood stew is then "digested" with a limestone and sulphurous
acid for eight hours. The steam and moisture is vented to the outside atmosphere, and the original wood
becomes pulp. It takes approximately three tons of wood chips to make one ton of pulp. The pulp is then
washed and bleached, both stages requiring thousands of gallons of clean water. Coloring is added to
more water, and is then combined in a ratio of 1 part pulp to 400 parts water to make paper. The
pulp/water mixture is dumped into a web of bronze wires, the water showers through, leaving the pulp,
which, in turn, is rolled into paper.1
And that's just to make the paper. We must include all of the chemicals, electricity, and fossil fuels used in
the shipment of this raw material and in the production and shipment of a finished paper bag. Paper,
when thrown away, can either be recycled or end up in the landfill. If it ends up in the landfill, over time it
will break down. If it ends up in the recycling center, the following process occurs:
First the paper must be returned to pulp. This is done by the use of several different chemicals including
sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium silicate. These chemicals bleach and spread out the
pulp fibers. These fibers are then run through cleaning and screening sequences that remove any
contaminants. The pulp must then be washed with clean water to remove ink.
Plastic is a petroleum product - it comes from oil piped or trucked to a refinery. Plastic is a by-product of
oil refining. For the most part, the whole process of making plastic bags requires only electricity and
because plastics are so lightweight the fuel used in shipping plastic bags is much less than that used to
ship paper bags. Like paper, plastic bags can end up in two places: the landfill or the recycling center. If a
plastic bag ends up in a landfill, it will stay intact for thousands of years. Plastic does not compost. With
plastic products in the mix, garbage does not have a chance to break down over time however Plastic is
very easily recyclable and can be recycled many times with very little energy consumption.
Until now, one of arguments in favour of paper has been that despite the fact that paper bag production
and delivery produces more greenhouse gas than plastic bag production and delivery, paper will
eventually decompose in the environment and in landfills whereas plastic is forever.
New technology in the form of oxo-degradable plastic bags has reached the cleaning industry and is
eliminating the landfill and litter advantage of the paper bag. Oxo-degradable bags are made from
recyclable plastic with an additive that causes the bags to degrade in the presence of oxygen and
eventually return to the natural environment by decomposition in a two step process. Step one is to
oxidize and fragment. This process typically takes 30-90 days if exposed to oxygen and is accelerated by
exposure to sunlight, heat, or mechanical stress. The second step is bio-degradation. This will occur,
even in a landfill, if oxygen is present. This would take approx 2 years under ideal conditions or up to 5
years under less favorable conditions. The by products of decomposition are water, biomass, and carbon
dioxide. This plastic does not create or release methane gas.
Considering the huge numbers of plastic bags used by the cleaning industry, not to mention the
impracticality of using paper trash can liners this new bag looks to have a great future in the industry’s
move to environmentally responsible cleaning. Oxo-degradable bags won’t degrade in the closet
however; they have a two year shelf life before decomposition starts so users don’t have to worry about
the bags failing before being used.
1
Information on wood pulp manufacturing courtesy of Greenfeet.com