The litterability of plastic bags: Key design criteria

Single use plastic bags are used by the billion in supermarkets, fast food outlets and retail stores because of their excellent fitness for use, resource efficiency and cheap price. They come in many varied shapes, sizes and materials. Because of their light-weight nature they are only a tiny fraction of the tonnage of plastic used in the packaging industry, yet they make a major contribution to litter, thanks to their large surface area and lack of biodegradability. In 2006 the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage initiated and funded, courtesy of the Natural Heritage Trust, a study to investigate the effect of bag design on litterability. This paper draws on report materials from the study that are the intellectual property of the Commonwealth. The paper presents a review of previous studies on plastic bags, a review of international plastic bag regulations, as well as the results of an assessment of the environmental impact of bag design using a streamlined life cycle assessment and the litterability of bag design using equipment including wind tunnels. The paper concludes with recommendations for bag design to maintain resource efficiency while reducing litterability.