FocusUS plastics industry fights bag bans

14 March 2008 22:17  [Source: ICIS news]

By Ivan Lerner

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--The chemical industry has compiled several statistics and talking points to fight proposals in the US to ban plastic bags, trade groups said.

As part of its strategy, the industry promoting plastic-bag recycling.

Already, he US is leaning towards recycling, said Steve Russell, managing director of the plastic division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

“From the largest state [California] to the largest city [New York City] to the largest retailer [Wal-Mart], all have closely considered this issue, and all have opted to support plastic bag recycling as the best environmental choice,” Russell said.

In the US, 650m lb (294,838 tonnes) of plastic bags were recovered for recycling in 2006, Russell said. For 2007, that amount has grown to 820m lb, according to initial estimates.

The market for recycled plastic bags is “strong and growing,” Russell said.

Environmentalists are giving a lopsided portrayal of plastic bags, said James Cooper, director, petrochemicals, for the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA). Plastics derived from petroleum feedstock tend to be more cost effective and leave less of an environmental footprint when compared with alternatives.

“When people are thinking of things in an environmental fashion, they should be thinking of the total environmental footprint, not just disposal of plastics,” Cooper said.

When compared with paper bags, plastic bags require 40% less energy to manufacture, generate about 80% less waste and use about 4% less water, according to the ACC. Meanwhile, the manufacture of paper bags generates 70% more air emissions.

The plastics industry is a highly visible target, said Greg Wilkinson, vice president of public and government affairs for NOVA Chemicals.

Some Americans believe they are being patriotic when supporting a bag ban - they think their grocery bags are petroleum based, and therefore probably made from foreign oil, according to the ACC. However, more than 80% of the bags manufactured in the US are made from domestic natural gas.

If plastic bags were banned, finding a replacement would not be easy.

The paper bag industry has very little excess bag capacity, said Robert Bauman, vice president for polymers at US consultancy Nexant.

Many paper-bag plants were converted to make other products such as paperboard or cardboard, he said.

“If the ban spreads to other cities, there is certainly going to be a shortage of paper bags and other replacement bags, like biodegradable,” Bauman said.

Bag bans originally started as a response towards a growing litter problem, noted the ACC.

[For more about potential plastic bag bans and the industry’s response to them, pick up the 31 March 2008 issue of ICIS Chemical Business.]

By: Ivan Lerner
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