Recent Plastic Bag Ban May Cause Surge in Paper Bag Usage in The Near Future
As part the New South Wales Government’s push to reduce plastic usage and waste by 2025, a multitude of single-use plastic items will begin to be banned through the next few years. The first item to be banned in June 2022 will be lightweight plastic bags, which is commonly used in food businesses as well as groceries. With these businesses no longer being allowed to use plastic bag, many will instead shift to paper bags, which are advertised as being more environmentally friendly.
It is a common misconception that paper bags cause less harm to the environment than plastic bags. Whilst it is hard to deny that paper bags are significantly more degradable and recyclable than plastic bags, more factors need to be considered when determining their impact on the environment, the first of which is the cost of their production. The production of paper bags involves the use of forest clearing. Indeed, trees are a carbon-fixing natural resource that is remedying our impact to the climate. Mass deforestation to produce paper will only serve to increase the rate at which global warming will occur. Accounting for this, the production of papers bags will overall require 4 times more water and produce 3.1 times more emissions than generic plastic bags.
Another factor when considering environmental impact is the product’s durability and usability. If paper bags cost significantly more to produce than plastic bags, surely, they will be more durable? Unfortunately, paper bags also fall behind plastic bags in this regard. In general, paper bags can carry less weight than plastic counterparts, and will otherwise tear. They are also more susceptible to outside influences like water or other liquids, making their overall durability and usability lower than plastic bags despite their high production costs.
Recyclability is another advantage advertised to paper bags, this is partly true in the current circumstances but may change as our infrastructure evolves and develops. Whilst most plastic bags can indeed be recycled, most city councils do not offer that option, leading to over 90% of plastic bags being regarded as general waste and sent to landfills. If at any time, the governments and councils begin to take more initiative towards recycling such plastic, paper bags will also lose out in this category. Plastics can be recycled an indefinite number of times whilst paper has a limited lifestyle and can no longer be recycled after a certain point.
Lastly, paper bags are highly regarded for their high biodegradability. This point is indeed true if the paper bags are left out in the open to degrade. However, like plastics, most paper bags nowadays are sent to landfills, where they are not able to degrade due to the lack of oxygen. Instead, being sent to landfills poses the risk of paper degrading into methane, which is an extremely greenhouse gas to the environment.
So, if paper bags are not a viable solution, and if plastics are as harmful as they are, what can we do to reduce our impact on the environment? There is another alternative that is less known to the public, that being plant-based plastics. By utilizing scraps from crops, such as corn starch and sugarcane, biodegradable plastics can be produced either with a mixture of traditional plastic and these or entirely from plant-based resources. Although it is still not possible to eliminate the problem of processing capacity, completely plant-based plastic can reduce the main emissions caused during the production process, and is a more environmentally friendly and cheaper alternative than paper bags.
References:
Carbon Positive Australia 2021, Carbon Myth: Paper vs Plastic, Carbon Positive Australia, accessed 7th December 2021, <https://carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au/carbon-myth-paper-vs-plastic/>.
NSW Government 2021, Phasing out single-use plastics in NSW, NSW Government, accessed 7th December 2021, <https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/our-work/environment-energy-and-science/plastics-action-plan/phasing-out-single-use-plastics-in-nsw>.
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