BillerudKorsnäs-commissioned study identifies paper bag as e-commerce carbon king

26 Mar 2020 --- BillerudKorsnäs has developed durable paper packaging for online retail mailing bags called Xpression E-com. The bags can reduce fossil emissions by nearly 50 percent compared to virgin plastic, according to a study conducted by Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). Having compared the environmental impact of different types of online retail packaging, the BillerudKorsnäs-commissioned study found that the Xpression bags can lead to a net carbon dioxide reduction. The research comes as the e-commerce sector’s rapid growth shows no signs of slowing down.

The study concluded that the BillerudKorsnäs Xpression E-com variant has a strong advantage over PE mailer bags and 100 percent recycled corrugated boxes. It was found that 1,000 mailing bags of Xpression E-com remove 50 kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere across its life cycle, including biogenic emissions. The paper is also better for the environment when considering emissions to air, water and soil that leads to eutrophication.

“We are very pleased to see such positive results for Xpression E-Com, although we are not altogether surprised. For many years, we have been communicating the virtues of using paper-based packaging from responsibly managed forests and the life cycle assessment (LCA) is simply validation of this. Hopefully, this will dispel some of the myths that have been published regarding the carbon impact of paper versus plastic,” Tom Hallam, Project Lead at BillerudKorsnäs tells PackagingInsights. 

The unbleached Xpression mailer bags hold the lowest eutrophication potential, which is defined by Anna Rengstedt, Sustainability and Communication at BillerudKorsnäs, as the “potential to cause impacts due to excessive levels of macronutrients in the environment caused by emissions of nutrients to air, water and soil.” Phosphate is taken as the reference emission as this is an important nutrient in the environment.

Click to EnlargeMailing bags made from BillerudKorsnäs' Xpression E-com paper produce less CO2 relative to PE bags and recycled corrugated boxes, the LCA found.“The results of the LCA will be of interest to all elements of the value chain, namely consumers, brand owners, supply chain stakeholders and bag converters. Our objective is to educate those who have doubts about the environmental credentials of BillerudKorsnäs paper and convince the market that a shift from plastic to paper is absolutely the right solution to help reduce the use of fossil fuels and help mitigate climate change,” says Rengstedt.

She further notes that Xpression’s low carbon emissions contribution is greatly attributed to the company’s energy production, which is run on 97 percent renewable bio-energy and only 3 percent fossil fuels. Moreover, the high rate of recycling in Europe also helps reduce the end-of-life impact of paper, Rengstedt highlights.

Xpression vs PE mailer bags
The unbleached Xpression kraft mailer bag has the lowest impact in terms of global warming potential, according to the RISE study. “This finding is robust and holds true even across the range of parameters considered in the sensitivity analysis,” the LCA reads.

Both the bleached and unbleached Xpression bags boast a lower fossil global warming potential compared to 40 micron virgin PE mailer bags. Switching from a virgin PE mailer bag to an unbleached paper mailer would deliver 49 percent carbon emissions savings, while switching to a bleached paper mailer would deliver approximately 41 percent carbon emissions savings, the study details.

“Our target is to make the move from plastic to paper mailing bags a ‘cost neutral’ exercise for brand owners. This cost neutral scenario can be achieved by moving existing bag volumes away from plastic,” Hallam details. 

Xpression vs recycled paperboard
On the other end of the global warming potential spectrum, the 100 percent recycled corrugated mailer box has the highest impact. “This finding is robust and is not affected by any of the assumptions and methodology choices investigated in the sensitivity analysis,” the LCA asserts. 

“There is a justified place in a sustainable paper cycle for both virgin and recycled paper as well as paperboard. The two raw materials are essential and intrinsically linked. Without a virgin paper input, you cannot have recycled paper or paperboard and without recycled paper/board you do not have an environmentally sound end of life solution for the virgin paper – there is a need for the two raw materials to co-exist,” Hallam concludes.

By Anni Schleicher

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