Paper versus Plastic

            While the debate over the environmental impact of plastic versus paper is one that has been ongoing for decades, the multi-variable arguments are certainly diverse and complex. Often a life cycle analysis (LCA) – a comprehensive calculation of impact from product creation to final disposal – is completed to fully analyze the full impact of both plastic and paper products. This allows one to not only calculate the carbon emissions and potential environmental damage of producing a product, but how that product’s use and end-use contributes to its overall environmental impact.

            A 2014 study found that plastic bags require approximately 8.3 kg less of fossil fuels in production than paper bags. Similarly, a U.K. study in 2011 found that HDPE bags had the lowest impact on fossil fuel use and global warming potential due to their lightweight nature and size. These studies, in alignment with many other lifecycle analyses, generally agrees that due to low mass requirements that are common for plastic products, production presents a lower environmental impact than paper products. However, the end-use and disposal regime of plastic and paper is where many of these reports find faults in plastic products.

            Paper recycling is often a far less complex operation than plastics recycling as paper recycling facilities are more common, and it can more easily be repulped and constituted into recycled paper. However, this does not necessarily mean that paper is always a more environmentally friendly choice than plastic. Paper products that are not properly recycled can easily end up in landfills where their larger mass takes up more physical space than plastic equivalents. Additionally, many paper products can be lined with plastic or aluminum which makes them more difficult, or at times, impossible to recycle. Although plastics recycling is far less frequent than paper recycling, the potential to reuse plastic material and create products from recycled plastics may lead to lower landfill occupancy and a more circular framework of waste management.

            Many LCA’s comparing plastic and paper products come to the conclusion that the largest contributing factor to environmental impact is the end-use of the product and whether it is recycled into something new, reused, or simply disposed of. By creating value in recycled plastic, a system that values post-consumer plastic waste will serve to lessen the environmental impact of plastic, reduce waste in landfills, and effectively address issues of resource waste and fossil fuel use.