PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS
UK Environment Agency study finds that single-use HDPE bags have lowest carbon footprint / 76% are actually reused / Usage halved in five years
A study of seven types of carrier bag carried out by the Environment Agency (EA, Bristol / UK; www.environment-agency.gov.uk) has found that single-use HDPE carrier bags have the lowest carbon footprint. Paper, heavyweight LDPE and cotton bags all use more resources and energy in their production. A key issue, says the EA, is the number of times bags are used and, perhaps surprisingly, the study found that an estimated 76% of all single-use lightweight carriers are in fact reused, often as liners for kitchen bins, raising questions as to whether they should be described as single-use.
The popular LDPE “bag for life” provided by many supermarkets needs to be used at least four times before it has a lower carbon footprint than the lightweight bag; heavier weight, non-woven PP bags must be used 11 times, paper bags three times and cotton bags 131 times. If assumptions are made that the lightweight carrier may be reused, then the alternative bags must be used even more times before achieving a lower carbon footprint assessment.
The EA study, titled “Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags”, was carried out in 2006-2007, but has only just been released. While the agency explained the delay by a period of peer review and discussion with retailers, media reports suggest the document was withheld because it shows single-use HDPE carrier bags in a more favourable light than expected.
Responding to the study, the British Retail Consortium (London / UK; www.brc.org.uk) said the acknowledgement that thin plastic carrier bags have the lowest carbon footprint demonstrates they are not the great environmental evil they are sometimes portrayed as being. “Agonising over bags misses the point,” stresses BRC sustainability director Andrew Opie. “To obsess over bags distracts consumers from many bigger changes to their habits which could do more to benefit the environment.”
According to the BRC, retailers in the UK virtually halved their use of lightweight, single-use carriers between 2006 and 2010, cutting consumption by 4.6 bn bags a year.
e-Service:
Environment Agency’s life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags as a PDF document
The popular LDPE “bag for life” provided by many supermarkets needs to be used at least four times before it has a lower carbon footprint than the lightweight bag; heavier weight, non-woven PP bags must be used 11 times, paper bags three times and cotton bags 131 times. If assumptions are made that the lightweight carrier may be reused, then the alternative bags must be used even more times before achieving a lower carbon footprint assessment.
The EA study, titled “Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags”, was carried out in 2006-2007, but has only just been released. While the agency explained the delay by a period of peer review and discussion with retailers, media reports suggest the document was withheld because it shows single-use HDPE carrier bags in a more favourable light than expected.
Responding to the study, the British Retail Consortium (London / UK; www.brc.org.uk) said the acknowledgement that thin plastic carrier bags have the lowest carbon footprint demonstrates they are not the great environmental evil they are sometimes portrayed as being. “Agonising over bags misses the point,” stresses BRC sustainability director Andrew Opie. “To obsess over bags distracts consumers from many bigger changes to their habits which could do more to benefit the environment.”
According to the BRC, retailers in the UK virtually halved their use of lightweight, single-use carriers between 2006 and 2010, cutting consumption by 4.6 bn bags a year.
e-Service:
Environment Agency’s life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags as a PDF document
01.03.2011 Plasteurope.com [218711-0]
Published on 01.03.2011