What is the real impact of bags on the environment?

In recent years, we have been asked several questions about the environmental impact of plastic bags.

Are they recyclable? Are they more polluting than canes? Do they have a bigger carbon footprint?

First of all, the biggest advantage of the bag is that it is reusable, nothing will be better for the environment than reusing the bags for yourself or your customers, rather than throwing them in the bin.

The bags are class 7 recyclable . They are therefore recycled at the sorting center(s) that has the necessary technology.

Are they more polluting than canes?

The amount of waste generated is much lower when using a bag than when using a metal cane.

For example, if we compare a 540 ml bag with a 540 ml can. The empty bag has a mass (a weight) of 10 g, while the empty metal can has a mass of about 70 g depending on the qualities.

Some will say that metal is better recycled than plastic, according to the 2018 Report on the management of residual materials in Quebec 48% of the metal put in the bin by Quebec residences was recycled versus 25% of plastic.

So putting a can in the recycling bin generates more waste than putting 3 bags directly in the trash.

In comparison, using one rod is exactly equivalent to using 4.85 pockets.

So a gallon in a can generates almost 5 times more waste than a gallon in a bag.

Others will say that the decomposition of a cane is much faster than that of a bag.

However, the pouch having very very thin walls will decompose much faster than the average other thicker plastic containers like jugs or glass bottles.

The rate of decomposition of waste is a function of the ratio of contact surface (reaction surface) / mass. Therefore, having more contact surface and less mass than all other containers of the same volume, the pouch is the plastic container with the best decomposition ratio.

Do they have a bigger carbon footprint?

Since the majority of bags, canes and other containers come from Asia, transportation is the main aspect to consider for the carbon footprint. Since the bags are flat packed, approximately 5 times more bags can be transported and stored than canes in the same space.

So we could put about 1000 bags in a box of 200 canes.

So we could say that when using containers from Asia, using the bag produces about 5 times less carbon than a standard container.

Weighing about 7 times lighter than the cane, using the Asian-sourced bag would produce about as much carbon as using a rigid container produced in North America.

To conclude, this is without counting the use of storage space which has an ecological footprint both at your place and at your supplier. The bags, being flexible, do not get damaged in the event of impact or under pressure. Therefore, container losses caused by transport are practically non-existent, both during your supply and during shipping to customers.

Thank you for reading to the end, it is very much appreciated. If you have any positive, negative or constructive comments, I invite you to write to me on Messenger, send me an email and even post a little message on my Facebook page.

I would like to know which passages you liked or disliked, which ones you understood more or less well and what information you would have liked to have on the subject.

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