LCA of Degradable Plastic Bags

Paper presented at the 4th Australian LCA Conference, February 2005, Sydney.

Abstract

In 2002, Ron Clarke representing the Council for Encouragement of Philanthropy in Australia suggested that a levy should be placed upon shopping bags to reduce consumption.

This was at a time when discuss and debate centred upon the consumption of 6.9 billion bags per year in Australia with many millions being littered and posing risks to aquatic and marine life through entanglement, ingestion and suffocation. It was also at a time when the introductions of different types of degradable polymers were entering the market and being touted as the solution to the plastic bag consumption.

In 2002-3 the Department of Environment and Heritage funded two studies that investigated the impacts of degradable polymers in Australia.

This paper presents background information on the types of degradable polymers and results from a streamlined life cycle assessment that compared degradable polymers and alternative materials such as HDPE, LDPE, PP, Kraft paper and calico. The paper concludes with a checklist for use in selecting degradable polymers.

Keywords

Degradable polymers, life cycle assessment, plastic bags, waste