A plastic bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, chemicals, and waste. It is a common form of packaging. In the late 1950s, Curt Lindquist, the CEO of the Celloplast company in Sweden, experimented with a new and promising material: plastic. By cutting and heat-sealing pieces together, he invented the first seamless plastic bag. The patent was awarded in 1965. Today most plastic bags are heat sealed at the seams, while some are bonded with adhesives or are stitched. Many countries are introducing legislation to phase out lightweight plastic bags, because plastic never fully breaks down, causing everlasting pollution of plastics and environmental impacts. Every year, about 1 to 5 trillion plastic bags are used and discarded around the world. From point of sale to destination, plastic bags have a lifetime of 12 minutes. Approximately 320 bags per capita were used in 2014 in the United States.
Package
Several design options and features are available. Some bags have gussets to allow a higher volume of contents, special stand-up pouches have the ability to stand up on a shelf or a refrigerator, and some have easy-opening or reclosable options. Handles are cut into or added into some. Bags can be made with a variety of plastics films. Polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE, etc.) is the most common. Other forms, including laminates and co-extrusions can be used when the physical properties are needed. Plastics to create single use bags are primarily made with fossil fuels. International Plastic Bag Free Day is celebrated on July 3. Plastic bags usually use less material than comparable to boxes, cartons, or jars, thus are often considered as "reduced or minimized packaging". In June 2009 Germany's Institute for Energy and Environmental Research concluded that oil-based plastics, especially if recycled, have a better life-cycle analysis than compostable plastics. They added that "The current bags made from bioplastics have less favourable environmental impact profiles than the other materials examined" and that this is due to the process of raw-material production. Depending on the construction, plastic bags can be suited for plastic recycling. They can be incinerated in appropriate facilities for waste-to-energy conversion. They are stable and benign in sanitary landfills. If disposed of improperly, however, plastic bags can create litter and harm some types of wildlife. Plastic bags have low recycling rates due to lack of separation ability. Mixed material recycling causes contamination of the material. However, plastic bags are reused before discard at a rate of 1.6 times. Bags come with various features such as carrying handles, hanging holes, tape attachments, and security features. Some bags are designed for easy opening and have reclosable press-to-seal zipper strips. This feature is commonly found in empty kitchen bags and some food packaging. Some bags are sealed for tamper-evident capability, including some where the press-to-reseal feature becomes accessible only when a perforated outer seal has torn away. Boil-in-bags are often used for sealed frozen foods, sometimes complete entrees. The bags are usually tough heat-sealed nylon or polyester to withstand the temperatures of boiling water. Some bags are porous or perforated to allow the hot water to contact the food: rice, noodles, etc. Grocery stores are the single largest supplier of single-use plastic bags. Bag-in-box packaging is often used for liquids such as box wine and institutional sizes of other liquids.
Medical uses Plastic bags are used for many medical purposes. The non-porous quality of plastic film means that they are useful for isolating infectious body fluids; other porous bags made of nonwoven plastics can be sterilized by gas and maintain this sterility. Bags can be made under regulated sterile manufacturing conditions, so they can be used when the infection is a health risk. They are lightweight and flexible, so they can be carried by or laid next to patients without making the patient as uncomfortable as a heavy glass bottle would be. They are less expensive than re-usable options, such as glass bottles. Moderate quality evidence from a 2018 systematic review showed that plastic wraps or bags prevented hypothermia compared to routine care, especially in extremely preterm infants.
Waste disposal bags
Flexible intermediate bulk container
Flexible intermediate bulk containers are large industrial containers, usually used for bulk powders or flowables. They are usually constructed of woven heavy-duty plastic fibers. It is a large, industrial-grade bag designed for the storage and transportation of dry, flowable materials in bulk quantities. Commonly known as bulk bags, jumbo bags, ton bags, or super sacks, these containers represent the most efficient, cost-effective solution for handling materials weighing between 500 kg and 2,000 kg.
Plastic shopping bags
Open bags with carrying handles are used in large numbers. Stores often provide them as a convenience to shoppers. Some stores charge a nominal fee for a bag. Heavy-duty reusable shopping bags are often considered environmentally better than single-use paper or plastic shopping bags. Because of environmental and litter problems, some locations are working toward a phase-out of lightweight plastic bags.
History
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
