Customers sometimes overlook paper handles as an important feature when designing a paper shopping bag. Knowing about different eco-friendly options and styles are a great start in the designing process. When choosing the right handle for your shopping bag, eco-friendly handles like paper twist, or braided paper are great to consider. These two common handle types can have a big visual impact on your bag while giving it that environmentally friendly touch. While these handle types are very unique, they add very little expense to the overall cost of the bag.
First, paper twist handles are a great selection when adding handles onto your bag. They can be made from durable papers that twist into a handle shape for dependable and comfortable carry. The handles themselves are secure on the interior of the bag. As a result, the handle style is sleek for a minimal approach and can easily cater to the artwork on your bag. Along with braided paper handles, the paper twist style is a popular option for many recyclable bags.
Similar to paper twist, braided paper handles are made from a strong paper material and have a unique braid-like pattern. This type of pattern will also let your customers carry your bags with comfort and style. Finally, these handles can match any color to complement your brand’s artwork.
With some bags, once the customer detaches the handles, they become recyclable. However, with paper handles, they can be part of the single-stream recycling process. With the single stream recycling process, all parts of the paper shopping bag become recyclable.
Single Stream Recycling
The single stream recycling process is also known as “single-sort” recycling. This refers to a system in which paper fibers, plastics, metals and other containers mix in a collection truck and sort separately throughout the collection process. When it comes to single stream recycling, both the collection and processing procedures are able to handle a full mixture of recyclable material.
Changing to a single-stream recycling process may provide an opportunity to update the collection and processing systems. This allows the process to add new materials to the ongoing list of recyclables that are acceptable. This will also allow more paper grades for recycling, including paper shopping bags, junk mail, as well as mixed paper.
Eco Friendly Papers and Bag Bans
Many cities now are passing laws that ban single-use plastic shopping bags. The reason for these bans is to mainly cut down on plastic pollution. As these bag bans are spreading nationwide, paper shopping bags are in demand and can be made with at least 40% post-consumer waste.
Constructing shopping bags with a certain percentage of post-consumer waste is also mandatory in some regions. As a result, many companies are using FSC® certified papers. Being FSC® certified means the company must follow all legal verifications and applicable laws, reduce the environmental effects of logging and foresting, and finally, respect the rights of the forest workers and local communities. If your company is FSC® certified, you are making sure your materials come from responsible sources to create the eco-friendliest paper shopping bag.
With the use of responsibly sourced materials and paper twist or braided paper handles, this cuts down on more waste and can make a completely recyclable shopping bag. You can even reuse your bags multiple times before recycling. A multi-use bag with durable handles is the best option when creating recyclable items for your packaging collection.
Keeping the environment in mind is so important when creating the perfect paper shopping bag. With these two handle options, one can easily achieve a recyclable paper shopping bag with strong handles. Adding the finishing touches like these handles can truly make your shopping bag collection unique.
