Going Green
Environmental issues are important to everyone. We are doing our part by offering 100% Biodegradable bags, printed with our custom “This Bag is Biodegradable” logo.
Our biodegradable bags break down completely when in contact with other decomposing materials; in compost bins, landfills, or just buried in the ground. These bags can also be recycled along with regular plastic bags. Unlike starch based compostable bags, these bags won't degrade in the presence of oxygen, heat, or sunlight, so they can also be reused until no longer serviceable. Any bag we make can be produced as biodegradable.
Our biodegradable bags are made using traditional resins combined with an additive from ECM Biofilms that allows the plastic to completely biodegrade within a few years. For more information about the technology used to make our biodegradable bags, visit www.ecmbiofilms.com.
"This Bag is Biodegradable" logos
When we make your biodegradable bag, we will also include the above logo. This logo will help inform end users about how to dispose of the bag. Three versions of this logo are available for use. Choose the one that works best for you.
Option A - Tells end users that the bag will biodegrade, but offers no additional information about recycling or the technology used.
Option B - Added information informs users that the bag biodegrades and is completly recyclable.
RECYCLED and RECYCLABLE
American Plastic can also provide bags made using post-industrial recycled plastic – much of which comes from our own scrap. All of our bags can be recycled. Recycle logos can be added to your bags at no additional cost.
Biodegradable or Compostable?
These words are interchanged a lot these days, but their meanings are completly different.
Compostable bags are starch based Polylactic Acid (PLA) from corn and other crops. PLA decomposes in conditions found at municipal composting facilities, but not in compost bins, landfills or when littered. Compostable plastic also cannot be recycled.
Biodegradable bags will break down completely when in contact with decomposing organic waste - even in a landfill where practically nothing degrades. They can also be recycled along with other plastic bags.
What about paper bags?
When comparing plastic and paper, plastic always comes out on top.
Here are a few facts.
- Paper bags require 4-5 times more energy to produce, transport and recycle, than plastic.
- Paper bags are responsible for 70% more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than plastic.
- Plastic bags generate 80% less solid waste than paper.
- Recycling plastic requires 91% less energy than paper.
- The manufacture of paper bags uses 40% more energy than plastic bags.