• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit August 15, 2022
Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature August 15, 2022
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

‘Lower Carbon’ Plastic Bag Raises Big Questions, Could Undercut Fossil Demand

May 19, 2021
Reading time: 2 minutes

plastic trash bags

loren biser/Public Domain Pictures

 

Efforts by the world’s largest producer of plastic trash bags to create a lower-carbon product have analysts asking questions about the roles government, consumers, and fossil producers will play in the war on plastic waste.

Wisconsin-based CMD Corporation “is demonstrating that lower-carbon plastic bags can be produced commercially using a mix of plant-based polymers and traditional linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) fossil fuel plastics resin,” reports the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). 

“Given that the company currently manufactures 90% of the world’s drawstring plastic bags, this is a substantial initiative.”

Containing 35% less LLDPE than traditional plastic bags, thanks to the addition of a plant resin made from corn, potatoes, and cassava, CMD’s bags have a ready-made market in places that already mandate plastic bags with lower carbon content. With such mandates already in place in Europe and California, IEEFA Finance Director Tom Sanzillo writes that CMD is “working to deepen its market share in Europe and introduce the new mix more broadly in the United States.” 

The company’s long-term goal is to create a bag made of 100% plant-based resins.

As for its current product, CMD claims that, in addition to its improved green credentials, the new bags are “thinner, stronger, and cheaper,” without requiring a substantial overhaul of existing manufacturing systems. 

But whether this is the best path forward is not yet clear. “CMD’s plan brings a number of critical industry and public policy questions front and centre,” Sanzillo notes. First among those questions is whether mixed resin bags truly represent progress, given the ongoing efforts to rein in single-use plastics.

“Do efficiency measures that can reduce costs, improve product quality, and result in lower-carbon emissions create conditions for an increase in plastic bag production—and with it, a potential for greater amounts of plastic bags in the waste stream and oceans?” Sanzillo writes.

On the positive side, Sanzillo asks if, contrary to the oft-circulated claim that government content regulations impair investment, CMD’s example might show how such intervention “might speed up a cost-saving innovation that can attract investment and create jobs.” 

An even bigger question, with billions of dollars (and the health of millions) at stake: “As cost-conscious plastics manufacturers find that alternatives to fossil fuels are commercially viable, does the potential diminution of demand for fossil fuel resins undermine margins for fossil-based merchant cracker plants, existing ethane-driven petrochemical complexes, and proposed fossil fuel-integrated facilities?”



in Climate & Society, Demand & Distribution, Fossil Fuels, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Oceans, Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals & Plastics, Supply Chains & Consumption, UK & Europe, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons
Energy Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
1
/Pikist
United States

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature

August 15, 2022
2
Brocken Inaglory/wikimedia commons
Severe Storms & Flooding

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month

August 15, 2022
3

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 14, 2022
614
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
1.7k
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts

August 11, 2022
347
Muramasa/Wikimedia Commons

Newfoundland Wind Farm Would Power Coastal Green Hydrogen Plant

July 17, 2022
720

Focus Blame for Climate Change on Fossils and Governments, Ecoanalytics Advises

August 11, 2022
154
Bernard Spragg/flickr

$12.3B in Profit over 3 Months as Big Fossils Reject Federal Emissions Cap

August 11, 2022
291

Recent Posts

TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
1
/Pikist

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature

August 15, 2022
2
Brocken Inaglory/wikimedia commons

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month

August 15, 2022
3
Vinaykumar8687/WikimediaCommons

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year

August 15, 2022
1
UK Black Tech/wikimedia commons

U.S. Tech Workers Leaving High-Paying Jobs to Focus on Climate Crisis

August 15, 2022
1
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Arctic Warms 4 Times Faster than Global Average, Surpassing Estimates 

August 15, 2022
1
Next Post
3dman_eu/pixabay

Syrians in Rebel-Held Region Embrace Solar Panels as ‘Blessing from God’

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}