Plastic vs Paper Bags
Recyclability
It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it does a pound of paper [1].
Reusability.
Plastic bags can be made very thin, without sacrificing the ability to carry heavy loads. They can carry 2,500 times its own weight and stay strong when wet. Further to this, they can be re-used for a wide range of things such as sandwich bags, general storage, bin liners etc. [1, 5]. On the other hand, paper bags are not durable enough to be used more than 4 times [4].
Manufacturing
Manufacturing a paper bag takes four times as much energy than it does to manufacture a plastic bag [1, 2]. Paper bags require mass forest cut downs, of which absorb greenhouse gases, and then the following manufacturing produces excess greenhouse gases. Chemical solutions are used when heating the wood chips, again contributing to both air pollution – such as acid rain – and water pollution – which, long-term, can work its way through the food chain [1]. Further to this, paper bags generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags [1, 2, 3].
Landfills.
In landfills, paper does not degrade or break down substantially faster than plastic. Nor does anything completely break down in modern landfill due to lack of water, oxygen, light, and other important factors. However, paper bags do take up significantly more space than plastic bags [1].