Are Paper Bags Really an Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Plastic?
Sure, it looks more eco and hipster but is it?
Single-use plastic is out, paper is in.
From July, all Aldi supermarkets in the UK will switch to one of two environmentally friendlier bags. Half the stores will use paper, half will use biodegradable plastic as part of a new trial to see which customers prefer.
The British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has also announced that it’s ridding its produce and fresh bakery aisles of single-use plastic, opting instead for paper in the bakery and bring-your-own or reusable bags for fruit and vegetables.
And this is a great thing. Supermarkets are finally holding their hands up and accepting that they are the source of much of our single-use plastic. In a day where plastic wrapped multipacks of peppers are cheaper than buying them loose, it’s well past time.
But before we all rush for the paper bags unquestioningly, we need to ask, ‘just how environmentally friendly are paper bags?’
Paper doesn’t just grow on trees
In order for a paper bag to be made, trees must be cut down. Aldi has said that its paper bags will be made from pulp sourced from sustainably managed forests and Sainsbury’s have committed to The Consumer Goods Forum’s target of zero net deforestation by 2020.
So both supermarkets are getting their pulp from sustainable sources. But is that all there is to it? Does that make paper bags an ideal solution?
Well, no, not necessarily.
Not only do the trees have to be turned into pulp, that pulp has to be turned into bags and then shipped, via potentially multiple depots and then to the supermarket where you’ll pick one up and stick your French stick in (not a euphemism).
And tree-to-bag is not the wholesome process we all like to believe. Harsh chemicals and vast quantities of water are used in processing either the wood shavings from trees or recycled paper into pulp.
The EU initiative Imagine All The Water is quoted as reporting it takes 13 litres of water to make a single sheet of paper. And if you want your paper white…
