PLASTIC BAG

A 'plastic bag' or 'pouch' is a type of flexible packaging made of thin, flexible, plastic film. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting foods, produce, powders, ice, chemicals, waste, etc.
A plastic bag is a container, usually with a tubular construction, made of flexible plastic film. Bags can be preformed and filled and sealed (or not sealed) later or can be formed at the filling and sealing operation. A 'pouch' is usually a small or moderate sized bag.

Contents

Composition

Bag types

Packages

Plastic shopping bags

Trash bags or Bin bags

Flexible intermediate bulk container

External Links

See also

Notes

References

Composition

Bags can be made of many different materials.

★ Polyethylene is the most common: LDPE, HDPE, LLDPE, etc

★ Polypropylene, OPP, etc

★ Coextrusions of multiple layers to improve physical properties and optimize material usage

★ Laminations for better mechanical or barrier properties such as Nylon and LDPE for vacuum packaging

★ Woven plastic fibers, usually orientied polypropylene

★ Specialty bag materials such as plasticized PVC (blood bags), Tyvek (sterilized medical supplies), cellophane, etc.
Most are heat sealed together. Some are bonded with adhesives or are stitched.

Bag types

Packages

Bags or pouches are a type of packaging for containing frozen food, fresh produce, snack foods, hardware, gardening products, etc. They are often made from a single roll of film on a horizontal or vertical form-fill-seal machine.
Several design options and features are available. Some bags have gussets to allow higher volume of contents. Some have the ability to stand up on a shelf or a refrigerator. Some have easy-opening or reclosable options. Handles are cut into or added onto some.
Bag-In-Box packaging is often used for liquids such as wine and institutional sizes of other liquids.
Plastic bags usually use less material then comparable boxes, cartons, or jars, thus are often considered as "reduced or minimized packaging". Depending on the construction, plastic bags can be well suited for plastic recycling. They can be incinerated in appropriate facilities for Waste-to-energy conversion. They are stable and benign in sanitary landfills.^[1] If disposed of improperly, however, plastic bags can create unsightly litter and harm some types of wildlife.
Bags are also made with carrying handles, hanging holes, tape attachments, security features, paper and other laminations, heavy sacks, pouch and standup pouch and other shapes. Some bags have provision for resealable closing; others are sealed, often by heating the open edge, once filled, and can only be opened by destroying the packaging.

Plastic shopping bags

Main articles: Plastic shopping bag

Open bags with carrying handles are used in large numbers worldwide. Stores often provide them as a convenience to shoppers: Some stores charge a nominal fee for a bag.

Trash bags or Bin bags

Main articles: Bin Bag

Plastic bags are a convenient and sanitary way of handling and containing rubbish, and are widely used. Plastic bags are often used for lining waste containers or bins.

Flexible intermediate bulk container

Main articles: Flexible intermediate bulk container

Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (Big bags, bulk bags, etc) are large industrial containers, usually used for powders or flowables.

External Links

★ Packaging Knowledge

★ Packaging News

★ Flexible Packaging Association

See also

★ Environment

★ Litter

★ Box wine

★ Bag-In-Box

★ Plastic recycling

★ Biodegradable polythene film

★ Biodegradation

★ Photodegradation

★ Refuse-derived fuel

★ Trash bag

★ Ziploc

★ Zipper storage bag

Notes

1. Slate Explainer, 27 June 2007.

References

★ Brody, A. L., and Marsh, K, S., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 1997, ISBN: 0-471-06397-5

★ Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002, ISBN: 1-930268-25-4

★ Selke, S, "Packaging and the Environment", 1994, ISBN: 1566761042