Residual waste bags made from post consumer recyclate have generally the smallest environmental impact profiles and can be considered the most “eco-friendly”, according to a new life cycle assessment (LCA) by the energy and environmental research institute, ifeu (Heidelberg / Germany; www.ifeu.de/english). Bags made from biodegradable plastics have less favourable environmental impact profiles than other materials examined, including virgin polyethylene. However, improvements in “biobags” can be expected within the next few years through installation of larger scale raw material manufacturing plants and improved product properties enabling significant down-gauging, the report says.

The German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films (IK, Bad Homburg / Germany; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de/en) said the report should “shed light on whether the planned legal sanctions on conventional plastics for use in waste bags, for example by means of penalty taxes, can be justified from an ecological point of view.” It added that, irrespective of the study’s results, it believed bioplastics materials had great future potential for use in other areas.

The research was commissioned by companies producing and distributing waste bags from a variety of materials, including bioplastics.

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Extended summary of ifeu’s “LCA of waste bags” as a PDF document (349 KB)