As public awareness about the downsides of plastic grows, both businesses and consumers are taking a closer look at the alternatives. There are a few options, each with strengths and weaknesses, and one YouTube creator provided a useful breakdown of the winners and losers in each category.
In a recent video, Justin Pack of EcoBits (@EcoBitsOfficial) compared the standard plastic grocery bag, made of polyethylene, to four alternatives across a series of tests, only one of which involved impact on the environment.
"We've got a series of plastic bag alternatives that we're going to put through a bunch of different tests, give them a score, and decide what we think is the ultimate plastic bag killer," Pack said.
Pack tested the bags — made of polyacetic acid or PLA, polyvinyl alcohol or PVA, polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHA, and HyaPak, a material made from invasive hyacinth plants — across a variety of performance criteria.
The first involved weight. The standard PE bag and the PVA bag tied for first place since both held 30 pounds without breaking, but even the weakest bag held 20 pounds.
The next tested ability to hold liquid. The plastic bag lost a point in this round because it had a hole in it, while the PLA and PHA bags were fully capable. The PVA bag, which is designed to break down in water, did just that, while the HyaPak bag had a faulty seam that prevented it from holding water. But, as Pack pointed out, it was a prototype, and the manufacturing technique is likely to improve.
In terms of cost, PE once again came out ahead, but none of the bags cost over 10 cents, so they all scored relatively high.
As for environmental impact, the traditional plastic bag was by far the worst, clogging waterways and shedding microplastics — two of the major reasons that so many areas have instituted plastic bag bans and taxes. The PLA bag was almost as bad, needing industrial conditions to be successfully composted, and the PVA bag left over 70% of its material in the water when it dissolved.
The PHA and HyaPak bags were the winners in this category, breaking down easily instead of leaving plastic in the environment.
Pack declared the PHA option the winner — though he noted that HyaPak would also have scored high without the manufacturing defect that prevented it from holding water.
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In the end, Pack demonstrated that there is more than one functional alternative to traditional plastic bags.
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