Environmental Effect on Biodegradability of Plastic and Paper Bags

Plastic bags have recently been introduced as an alternative to multiwall Kraft paper bags in packaging milk powder in 25‐kg sizes as it is thought that plastic bags are more durable and would preserve the quality of milk powders during storage better than paper bags. However, there is little scientific information available on the performance of plastic bags for milk powder storage. The aim of this study was to compare the properties of skimmed milk powder (SMP) packaged in plastic or paper bags. Commercially produced and packaged SMP in 25‐kg plastic or paper bags was stored at 37°C and 90% relative humidity. Samples were analysed at intervals (0, 45, 90 and 135 days) for moisture, water activity, lactic acid content, pH, insolubility index, bulk density, flowability, dispersibility and particle size. The magnitude of change in the majority of SMP properties measured during storage suggests that plastic bags are similar to paper bags in maintaining milk powder quality during storage.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of residen tial yard waste collection and composting programs in Can ada. A survey of the large-scale systems found that 68% of the programs use non-biodegradable plastic bags as their primary collection contamer, while 20% use paper bags. Simple math ematical models were developed to compare debagging sys tems and to compare plastic and paper bags. These models can be used to: select a debagging unit cost target, select labor force productivity targets, select the appropriate level of debagging automation, and compare the cost of using paper or plastic bags in their program. The models were applied to the City of Winnipeg's program, which currently debags 2 280 tonnes per year and is predicting a future throughput of up to 10 000 tonnes per year. Tremendous economies of scale were shown as the debagging unit cost decreased from $30 to $9 per tonne as the annual debagging throughput was increased from 500 to 10 000 tonnes per year. A comparison of the costs of using paper or plastic bags found the retail price of the bags to be the most significant cost component of the collection and pre-processing costs. It represented 94% of the cost of a pro gram using paper bags, and 72% of the cost of a program using plastic. When the retail price of the bags was included, the use of paper bags was found to be 24% more expensive than the use of plastic bags. If the retail price was excluded, the use of plastic bags was found to be 75% more expensive than paper bags.

Several countries have imposed either a ban or a tax on single-use plastic packaging, motivated by their contribution to marine plastic pollution. This may lead consumers to opt for similar unregulated substitutes, potentially undermining or even counteracting the intended effect of the policy instrument. The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically compare the environmental and welfare effects of the first-best Pigouvian taxes on both plastic bags and a substitute (paper bags), with two alternative second-best policy instruments: a tax on plastic products alone, and a common uniform tax on all packaging materials. The empirical analysis accounts for two different types of environmental externalities from the use of both bag types: marine pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It also compares results for two countries, Denmark and the USA, which differ in the demand for plastic and paper bags. The theoretical analysis shows that a unilateral tax on plastic bags should equal the marginal environmental damage of plastic bags minus a fraction of the marginal environmental cost of paper bags, hence being lower than the Pigouvian tax. The optimal common tax should equal a weighted average of the marginal environmental damage of the two bag types and would be lower than the Pigouvian tax on plastics if the marginal external cost of plastic bags exceeds that for paper bags. The empirical analysis shows that for default parameters, the variation in tax level across the studied scenarios is small. It also shows that if Pigouvian taxes cannot be implemented, a common uniform tax on both bag types would result in a higher welfare gain than a tax on plastic bags alone. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the level of the second-best taxes and their associated environmental and welfare impacts are sensitive to assumptions regarding the littering rate and decay rate of plastic bags in the marine environment.

Dry pet food is a potential source of exposure to house dust and storage mite allergens in canine atopic dermatitis. This study evaluated contamination of house dust and dry dog food stored in paper bags, sealable plastic bags and sealable plastic boxes in 10 households for 90 days using Acarex(®) tests for guanine, a Der p 1 ELISA and mite flotation. Acarex(®) tests were negative in all the food samples but positive in all the house dust samples. The Der p 1 levels and mite numbers significantly increased in food from paper bags (P = 0.0073 and P = 0.02, respectively), but not plastic bags or boxes. Mite numbers and Der p 1 levels were 10-1000 times higher in house dust than the corresponding food samples (P < 0.0001). There were significant correlations between Der p 1 in house dust and food from the paper (P < 0.0001) and plastic bags (P = 0.003), and mite numbers in house dust and food from the paper bags (P = 0.0007). Bedding and carpets were significantly associated with Der p 1 levels in house dust (P = 0.015 and P = 0.01, respectively), and food from the paper (both P = 0.02) and plastic bags (P = 0.03 and P = 0.04, respectively). Mites were identified in six of 10 paper bag, three of 10 plastic bag, one of 10 plastic box and nine of 10 house dust samples. These comprised Dermatophagoides (54%), Tyrophagus (10%; all from food) and unidentified mites (36%). Storage of food in sealable plastic boxes largely prevented contamination for 3 months. Exposure to mites and mite proteins in all the stored food, however, appeared to be trivial compared with house dust.

Bagging fruit with plastic, paper, and two-layer commercial bags was evaluated for control of insect pests and diseases in an experimental apple orchard planted with ‘Red Delicious’ trees. Results from fruit damage evaluations at harvest showed that bagging significantly reduced fruit damage from direct apple pests compared with non-bagged control plots, and generally provided similar levels of fruit protection when compared with a conventional pesticide spray program. Of the three bagging materials evaluated, plastic bags provided numerically higher levels of fruit protection from insect pests, and two-layer commercial bags provided numerically higher levels of fruit protection from fruit diseases. Fruit quality as measured by percentage Brix was higher in non-bagged control plots than all other treatment plots. Fruit quality as measured by fruit diameter was not significantly different among treatments. Plastic and two-layer commercial bags generally required less time to secure around apple fruit than paper bags. The proportion of bags that remained on fruit until harvest ranged from 0.54–0.71 (commercial bags), 0.64–0.82 (plastic bags), and 0.32–0.60 (paper bags), depending on the year.

The most visually obvious environmental issue concerning people is the over use of plastic and paper bags. Littering of the landscape, clogging the waterways and endangering wildlife as well as humans are the only a few of the detrimental results of using plastic bags. Plastic bags takes hundreds of years to decompose and the recycling rate is very low. It is made out of many harmful chemicals (such as BPA, HDPE, LLDPE, ethylene) which have negative effects on the environment, as well as to human health. Plastic bags are mistakenly eaten by marine animals and clog their intestines which results in death by starvation. Plastic bags float and mislead marine animals such as turtles that swallow them as food. Also, chemicals such as BPA have negative health effects toward humans, which include disruption of reproduction, as well as endocrine dysfunctions. To avoid this environmental and health issue, one needs to avoid the use of plastic bags and create an alternative path to get a risk-free environment worldwide. In order to have big changes, small changes are necessary. Together we, the students at Rutgers, can make a change. There are many ways to produce less waste and for that we say reduce, reuse and recycle. However, people don’t realize that reduce and reuse come before recycle. We can reduce and reuse plastic bags which are used at Rutgers dining hall takeout services. By acknowledging students about this issue, banning plastic bags and using cloth or reusable canvas bags instead are the ways to control this issue. (SS)

A study was performed during 2016 from January to July for safe mango production by applying the minimum use of pesticides. The mango fruits were bagged at marble stage (45 days after fruit set) with various treatments viz: T0: No bagging (control), T1: Brown paper double-layered bag (BPB); T2: White paper single-layered bag (WPB); T3: Perforated polythene bag (PB) and T4: White cloth bag (WCB). In physical parameters, brown and white paper bag recorded the maximum fruit weight (169.10 g and 147.6 g), fruit length (8.57 and 8.33 cm), fruit diameter (5.63 and 5.87 cm) and pulp weight (124.47 g and 105.60 g) respectively, while minimum result was found in the other treatments and control. Meanwhile, in bagging fruits, chemical parameters of total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, percent of citric acid, reducing sugars and β- carotene were increased over control. Brown paper bag changed fruit color. The sensory qualities in fruits of brown and white paper bags were improved over control. Fruit retention was significantly improved by pre-harvest fruit bagging with a brown paper bag (95.90%), white paper bag (95.50%), and control (90.00%) over polythene bag (80.00%). Fruits with brown paper bags showed shelf life up to 18 days with good physical quality and the lowest weight loss against 15 days of control fruits. The sensory attributes were better in fruits of brown, white paper and white cloth bags over control. Bagging at marble stage also reduced the occurrence of spongy tissue and the incidence of mealy bugs. These results indicate that fruit bagging can improve the quality and the shelf life of mango cv. Amrapali through the reduction of disease and insect-pest attack.

This research surveyed 200 coastal and noncoastal Rhode Island residents to determine their perceptions of marine plastic debris and their support for plastic and paper bag legislation. The results suggest that one’s residency, or geographic distance from the coast, has no bearing on plastic and paper bag policy support and that most participants, 77%, classify plastic pollution as a serious threat to various types of wildlife, the marine environment, human health, and Rhode Island’s economy. The data also seems to suggest support for a statewide plastic bag ban and a statewide fee of 10 cents on paper bags as a means to address the problem. Approximately 77% of participants support the bag ban while 68% support, or are neutral towards, a statewide paper bag fee of 10 cents. While this research was being completed, Governor Gina Raimondo’s Task Force to Tackle Plastics published its final report in February of 2019 ultimately proposing that the state enact both a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags and a statewide 5 cent fee on recyclable paper bags. Rhode Island Senate bill S0410, the Plastic Waste Reduction Act, was modeled after the final report’s recommendations to the Governor and was introduced on February 27, 2019. The results from this research generally support and endorse the recommendations and S0410. Approximately 86% of participants were also found to be aware of, and 75% were found to be highly knowledgeable of, the severity of this global issue. The high levels of concern, awareness and knowledge are associated with participants’ pro-ecological worldviews measured by the New Ecological Paradigm.

Paper bags were traditionally made from trees, leading to habitat degradation and deforestation due to the need for fresh raw materials. To address this issue, the researchers conducted a study with the goal of creating paper bags using cotton pulp and pomelo fruit peels as a sustainable alternative to tree-based paper bags. The objective of the study was to find environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional paper and plastic bags. To evaluate the potential of the alternative paper bag, they gathered 30 respondents from Laguna University, including students, personnel, and teachers who commonly use traditional paper bags. The researchers conducted a "Do It Yourself" (DIY) test to assess the durability of the alternative paper bags and the commonly used paper bags in terms of weight capacity. Additionally, they conducted laboratory tests to compare the tensile strength, thickness, and grammage of the alternative paper with the commonly used paper bag. As a result, the researchers concluded that using an alternative paper bag made from pomelo peels and cotton pulp had significant advantages over commonly used paper bags in terms of durability, appearance, and fragrance. The study provided evidence that the proposed alternative is a viable option for paper packaging. Based on the results of the study, the researchers proposed finding other methods of creating the alternative paper bag due to a lack of heavy equipment. The researchers also suggested further improvement of the smell, color, and moisture content of the paper bag.

Germinating ability of winter and winterspring hexaploid triticale seeds, as well as wheat and rye seeds, after nine years of room storage at the temperature of 18-24°C, was studied. The experiment was laid in autumn 2008 and included four repetitions of crop samples within each storage variant: in ears and threshed seeds, in paper and plastic bags. For the experiment, the seeds of the new harvest were dried for 2 months in sheaves. In autumn 2017, the seeds were germinated at the temperature of 24 °C. The most acceptable variants of seed storage (in plastic bags and in ears) as well as differences in seed germinating ability of crops and variety specimens of different development types were revealed. Seed germinating ability of all three crops was satisfactory when stored in ears (68 ± 3%) and in plastic bags (70 ± 3%). Reduced germinating ability (59 ± 2%) was noted after storage in paper bags. When stored in plastic bags, the seeds of winter varieties of triticale, Sears 57 and Cecad 90, showed increased germinating ability: 77 ± 3% and 74 ± 2%, respectively. The seed germinating ability of all winter crops was higher than that of winterspring analogues. Triticale excess averaged 9%, wheat - 4.5%, winter rye - 12%. Among all studied crops and samples, the most late-maturing genotype of winter-spring triticale Cecad 90/5 had the lowest seed germinating ability (45 ± 3%), while winter rye variety Korotkostebelnaya 69 had the highest one (84 ± 4%). The diploid rye had an average seed germination rate by 11% higher than the tetraploid one. Wheat and rye had higher seed germinating ability in all variants of the experiment than triticale genotypes, the germinating ability indices being 72 ± 3%, 68 ± 3% and 61 ± 2%, respectively.

Excerpts from An Interview with Nathaniel Donnett Nathaniel Donnett (bio) About my use of brown paper bags as part of my media for making art. Well, the first idea was to look into how people carry their personal memories or ideas or experiences with them wherever they go, whether they are bad ones or good ones or experiences that have been actually dealt with or experiences one must confront. There is also the idea about consumption, mass consumption, and the culture of buying a lot of thing within this one space and then re-dispersing it out for different types of uses. So that was my initial idea about the paper bags. But before the paper bags, there was an installation that I did, and in the installation it was like a metaphor for the mind. And using that metaphor for the mind, the idea was to have things inside the paper bags that symbolize ideas, memories, or even neurotransmitters and how the brain works. From that, I kept the idea of experiences and memories and everything like that. Along with me being at a coffeehouse hearing two people talking about good hair, bad hair, light skin and dark skin… So then immediately, after thinking about it, I put these two things together. So I am thinking about the personal baggage, and I am also thinking about the historic content of what paper bags mean to Black people. Which would be the paper bag test: if you were lighter than a paper bag, you had access to certain things; if you were darker, you didn't have access to certain things. And then, from there, that paper bag idea with the small ones, I started thinking about paper bag tests and testing… and the standardized testing in terms of measuring intelligence or people who were thought not to have intelligence and who were only these physical beings. So I did a little research on that. So those were the beginning points on where these paper bags came from. While investigating that… because it is all an investigation on trying to understanding "Does this exist?" "Why do these remnants exist now in my generation and for those younger than me?" What is art to me? Mainly the paper bags are where it is rooted from. And where it goes; I am not sure where it is going to go. Because a lot of works that I do are extensions. They start here and something about their other work is interesting in something I do somewhere else… and it just continues. That's where the paper bags were started. Now I was also still interested in the plastic bags that I was using in the installation that inspired the paper bags, so I wondered what did these two pieces of bags function as and how did they function? We can talk about environment and we can talk about functioning as beauty—like, when you think about when people say they cover their face with a paper bag, you know, you think about what is beautiful and what is not. So I wanted to juxtapose both of those two, the plastic and the paper, and show in the context of what blackness is, or is not, that the difference in hair texture and phenotypes and color and shades and all these things do not necessarily define what black is. What black is is something deeper than surface stuff; it is experience, it is historical. So this is kind of where I [End Page 787] get to the gist of my investigation of these bags and this colorism and all these different things I am using. That is more so with this show, and there is no division, there is no separation, between paper and plastic in the context I am using it in. Just like there is no separation between intuition and intellect. Although they have been separated mainly in Western and European society, you can't have the Ying without the Yang, right? So these two things coexist, so paper and plastic coexist. So it's almost like a joke. Paper or plastic? No, neither. It's paper and plastic. So that...

Acacia nilotica (L.) commonly known as babul is a multipurpose nitrogen fixing tree of tropical and subtropical regions. It provides timber, fuel, shade, food, fodder, dye and gum. Seed maturity indices were studied and seeds collected during 2nd week of June (5th collection) resulted maximum germination (85.2+0.46 %). At this stage, the colour of pod and seed was yellowish white and brownish black, respectively.In ordinary storage conditions, seeds get damaged due to insect pest attacks. Hence, a study was conducted to standardize the optimum seed storage conditions for getting maximum germination.The seeds were stored up to 600days in different containers at different temperaturesviz. poly bag at room temperature 15-400C (B1T1), poly bag at BOD250C (B1T2), poly bag at refrigerator 50C (B1T3), paper bag at room temperature 15-400 C (B2T1), paper bag at BOD 250C (B2T2),paper bag at refrigerator 50 C (B2T3), cloth bag at room temperature 15-400 C (B3T1), cloth bag at BOD 250C (B3T2) and cloth bag at refrigerator 50 C (B3T3). The results revealed that seeds stored for 15 days in poly bag at refrigerator 50C(B1T3) recorded the maximum germination of 85.2 % and 81.12 % in laboratoryand field conditions, respectively.The seed germination decreased with advancement of storage period in all the storage treatments. However, after 600 days of storage period, the maximum seed germination (59.1%) was recorded in B1T3in laboratory conditions.The seeds stored in poly bags as well as in cloth bags and stored in refrigerator gave maximum germination in laboratory and field conditions. Hence, it may be concluded that the seeds ofA. nilotica can be stored either in poly bag or in cloth bag in refrigerator at 50 C for long term storage to get maximum germination.

ABSTRACTThe effect of packaging materials on nitrate nitrogen content of irradiated potatoes was investigated. Tubers were irradiated at 10, 30 and 100 Krads and stored for 12 wk at 5°C in paper or plastic bags. Nitrate nitrogen content was significantly (p &lt; 0.01) higher in tubers packaged in plastic as compared to those in paper bags. Irradiation significantly (p &lt; 0.01) increased nitrate nitrogen content between the lowest and highest levels of treatment in tubers stored in both paper and plastic bags.

The experiment was conducted to determine the effects on the total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, moisture content and total different color (ΔE) when the O. stamineus dried whole-leaf were packed in different packaging materials (plastic bag, paper bag and glass container) and stored under room temperature (±25 °C) and relative humidity (±65 %RH) for 8 weeks. The total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity assay respectively, and analyzed using UV/VIS Spectrophotometer. The moisture content changes were examined using a moisture analyzer and the color changes were analyzed using colorimeter. The results showed that packing O. stamineus dried whole-leaf in different packaging materials significantly affected the herbal leaves quality. After 8 weeks of storage period, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity exhibited the increase values during storage. Meanwhile, the moisture content of the samples decreased by storage period for the samples packed in plastic bag and glass container. The moisture content of the samples packed in the paper bag fluctuated along the 8 weeks of storage period. The total different color (ΔE) of the O. stamineus dried whole-leaf increased by storage period. The highest changes of ΔE belonged to the samples packed in the glass container, followed by paper and plastic bags. The selection of the packaging materials can be considered as an important element to control the quality of raw herbal materials for further processing and the herbal finished products.

Although the negative environmental impact of plastic carrier bags has long been known, their use in Europe continues undiminished. Lithuania stands out for its high use and production of plastic bags. Governments and sustainability-driven businesses are taking various measures to reduce the environmental impact. Such measures include strategies to replace conventional plastic bags with paper or bioplastic bags, to reduce plastic bags by encouraging consumers to reuse them, and similar strategies. In contrast to the environmental impact of plastic bags, the socioeconomic effects of strategies to reduce their use have been much less studied in the scientific literature. Therefore, this paper analyses the impact of sustainability practices in the producing and using of carrier bags on Lithuania’s gross domestic product (GDP), employment and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study uses the CleanProdLT computable general equilibrium model based on the latest available data for 2020. The model allows for analysis of economy-wide effects by considering cleaner production and more sustainable consumption scenarios at different levels of detail. The results of the analysis show that while the analysed substitution of plastic bags with bioplastic (BioPlastic scenario) or paper bags (PaperBags scenario) has positive socioeconomic impacts, the overall best results can be achieved by reducing their consumption (ConsReduction scenario). In detail, it is estimated that the GDP could increase by EUR 18 million under the PaperBags scenario, by EUR 47 million under the BioPlastic scenario, and by EUR 64 million under the ConsReduction scenario. At the same time, employment increases by 213 jobs, 891 jobs, and 449 jobs, respectively. While the PaperBags and the BioPlastic scenarios reveal increases in GHG emissions of 4.5 ktCO2eq. and 29 ktCO2eq., respectively, the ConsReduction scenario demonstrates a decrease in GHG emissions of 4 ktCO2eq.. These findings suggest that the recent policy decision to charge for plastic bags in supermarkets will have positive environmental and socioeconomic impacts in the future.