Page 13 - Plastics News May 2020

Single-use Plastic-Bags And Their Alternatives - A Study And Recommendations From Life
Cycle Assessments
The study compares Single use PE (SUP), Multi use PE, According to the study the material type and weight of
Recycled PE, PP, Biodegradable bag, Paper Bags and its a shopping bag are important characteristics for
impacts on the environment determining its environmental impacts. A bag with the
same material but double the weight has double the
Life Cycle Initiative released a new reports on plastics
The study compares Single use PE (SUP), Multi use PE, impact, unless it is reused more times or used to carry
Recycled PE, PP, Biodegradable bag, Paper Bags and more goods. The LCAs in the meta-analysis indicate
recommend actions to be taken by different that a SUPB weighs approximately 6 g in China, India,
stakeholders to achieve a circular economy for plastics Singapore and the US, but 18-20 g in Finland, Spain
at the global level and the UK.

Single-use plastic bags (SUPBs) are one of the most
The number of times a bag is used directly influences
consumed items globally and much debate has evolved
around their environmental impact. However, their its environmental impacts. For instance, if a bag is
alternatives for shopping – e.g. cotton and paper bags – used for shopping twice instead of once, it has only
also come with an environmental footprint, and do not half the environmental impact per shopping round.
necessarily outperform plastic bags in all environmental
categories. To identify which solution is environmentally The technology and material/energy use of
more sustainable, the impact of SUPBs compared to production processes influence the impact of bags.
their alternatives needs to be investigated under a life For example, the climate impact of paper bags varies
cycle perspective. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a greatly, depending on what fuel is used in the pulp and
quantitative tool designed for this purpose, to assess the paper production.
environmental impacts of products and services across
their full life cycle including raw material extraction, The waste-management process also influences the
production, logistics and distribution, use and end-of- environmental impact of bags. Paper bags that end up
life. in landfills cause emissions of methane with high
A meta-analysis of seven LCAs published in English since climate change effect, while plastic bags are
the year 2010 was conducted to investigate what can be
learnt from these studies, and to provide guidance to relatively inert. On the other hand, incineration of
policy makers and other actors on how to interpret used plastic bags affects the climate through
results from comparative LCAs on shopping bags. The emissions of fossil carbon dioxide (Co2), while the CO2
table below summarises the findings, including the emitted from incineration of paper bags is part of the
environmental benefits and drawbacks of SUPBs natural carbon cycle. The environmental impacts of
compared to other bags. The report also sheds light on biodegradable bags are reduced if the bags are
the benefits and challenges of LCA as a method to assess composted, while most other bags benefit from
the environmental aspects of bags. Based on the material recycling.
learnings from this meta-analysis, the report provides
guidance for experts undertaking future LCAs of plastic Considering the impacts from all life cycle stages, the
bags and their alternatives to improve the environmental ranking of bags varies between
comprehensiveness, consistency and accuracy of the different environmental categories. The SUPB is a
analysis.
poor option in terms of litter on land, marine litter and
microplastics, but it scores well in other
environmental impact categories, such as climate
change, acidification, eutrophication, water use and
land use. The overall environmental ranking will
depend on what environmental aspects are given the
highest priority. In this context it might be important
to note that bags are responsible for a significant
share of the litter, but a very small share of the total
climate change when compared with other products
and commodities.

MAY 2020 13 Plastics News