We have ALL been brainwashed into thinking paper is better than plastic….paper after all, comes from trees which can be replanted and is touted as a renewable resource.
There is however another side to the story…
Plastic is NOT as eco-unfriendly as some ‘green-washers’ would have you believe!
Check out the article below from Earth911 and see for yourself!!!
The Other Side of Plastic Bags
by Lindsey Wilson
Plastic grocery bags are a hot-button issue. Some states are considering instituting a ban or tax on their usage, while others are fiercely defending their convenience, versatility and portability. Hilex Poly, a manufacturer and recycler of plastic “T-shirt” bags, would like the public to use and enjoy plastic grocery bags in a variety of ways—and then recycle them through its Bag 2 Bag program.
Earth911.com recently checked in with Mark Daniels, Hilex’s vice president of Marketing and Environmental Affairs, to discuss that age-old supermarket question: paper or plastic?
A Bit Of History
Hilex Poly is a manufacturer of plastic bag and film products and has been in business for more than 30 years, first as Sonoco Products Company, until Hilex Poly LLC bought it out in 2003. When Hilex purchased Vanguard Plastics, Inc. in 2005, it became the largest retail carryout manufacturer in the world.
In addition to making plastic grocery bags from post-consumer recycled content, Hilex also developed Bag 2 Bag, the industry’s first take-back recycling program.
The plastic bags that are returned are compressed into resin pellets and then turned back into bags known as the “Gray is the New Green” campaign. According to the campaign, “Plastic shopping bags made from virgin material are white in color. Whereas plastic shopping bags made partially or totally from recycled resin from used bags are gray, buff or blue.”
Its Hilex Environmentally Degradable (HED) plastic bags can degrade in as few as eight weeks with enough sunlight and oxygen, and its E3 reusable bags load onto existing bag racks in retail stores for more efficient bagging.
Part of Hilex’s mission is to help the public separate the fact from fiction about plastic bags.
Some plastic manufacturing facts:
*When delivering the bags, the quantity of plastic bags in one truckload would require seven truckloads of paper bags.
*In the manufacturing process, plastic bags generate 80 percent less waste than paper bags, and only consume about 18 percent as much energy.
*Plastic bags use less than 3 percent of the fresh water necessary to make paper bags.
*It takes about 91 percent less energy to recycle a plastic bag as it does a paper bag.
“We’re of the philosophy that because of the low carbon footprint and the efficiency of manufacturing plastic bags compared to alternative products, we think we have a real advantage over some of the other carry-out products,” says Daniels.
Headquartered in South Carolina, Hilex operates eight manufacturing locations throughout the U.S., as well as the largest closed-loop plastic bag recycling plant in the world, located in North Vernon, Ind.
“Since building the Indiana recycling facility in 2004, we’ve reprocessed over 30 million pounds of plastic bags and overwraps,” says Daniels. “And our board of directors just approved the capital to double that capacity for post-consumer recycling.”
A Team Effort
Daniels wants the public to understand that the approximately 30,000 Bag 2 Bag bins located in supermarkets throughout the country aren’t just for shopping bags. All items made of polyethylene, such as the plastic wrap from toilet tissue and paper towel bundles, dry cleaning bags and bread sacks, can all be returned.
“The more participation we get from the public to return their plastic bags and wraps, the higher levels of recycled content we can put in,” says Daniels.
One way Hilex is trying to encourage people to bring these materials back in is by involving and educating retailers. Daniels explains that the goal is not just to place a container by the doors, but to have the checkers and managers acknowledge the program and ask their customers to return the bags on their next visit.
“When was the last time someone came up to you and said, ‘Thank you for shopping at Safeway, and by the way we have recycling bins over there so can you bring your plastic bags back?’” Daniels asks. “It’s just grassroots stuff that we’re trying to get retailers to participate in.”
The Best Part
That “grassroots stuff” is actually Daniels’ favorite part of his job. Besides working with retailers to help spread the word about recycling, he also spends his time clearing up misconceptions about the impact plastic has on the environment.
A lot of arguments are based on myths and spread rapidly, he says, and Daniels is working to set the record straight.
“It’s gratifying to be able to be at the ground level and educate people on this particular product and how it can be recycled,” he says
Favorite of the Three R’s“I’m pretty equal on all of them,” states Daniels. It makes sense: Without “recycle,” there would be no Hilex Poly, and if people reuse their plastic bags as lunch sacks or trash can liners, that still helps to lessen the impact on the environment.
As for “reduce,” Daniels explains that Hilex has been running bagger training programs for years, persuading front end managers and baggers to put five or six items into a bag rather than the standard three or four. The plastic bags that Hilex produces are also slightly bigger and thicker than most, offering more confidence to a public that has recently embraced reusable bags and shunned plastic.
“We understand that there are reusable bags out there,” says Daniels. “We distribute reusable bags as part of our portfolio of products. We think that there is a niche for that, and if people want to use reusable bags, that’s fine. If they want to use paper bags, that’s fine. We just want to have the plastic bag be out there as a good environmental choice.”
Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco-Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products
www.countrymeadowltd.com
