64 & 95 Gallon Totes 64 Gallon Totes can hold as much as 220lbs. of documents. 95 Gallon Totes can hold as much as 340lbs. of documents.

Typical office paper has 80 g/m2 (0.26 oz/sq ft), therefore a typical A4 sheet (1⁄16 of a square metre) weighs 5 g (0.18 oz).

approximately 10.0 lbs

35 pounds

It is estimated that a single-use plastic bag can hold up to 17 pounds, of course that has to do with the actual thickness of the plastic bag, but that is still pretty impressive. On the other hand, reusable grocery bags, like our Hurricane Bag can easily hold up to 22 pounds.

As stated in our hypothesis, the bag with the thickest material could hold the most weight. After three trials were performed on each brand of trash bags and averaged out; Hefty was able to hold 71.5 pounds, Glad held 53 pounds, and the generic brand held 38 pounds. Also, how many pounds can a garbage truck lift?

Paper is far more biodegradable than plastic and very easily recycled. But it often ends up in landfill, where its degradation rate slows – while it takes up more space than the same weight of plastic.

However, paper is very resource-heavy to produce: Manufacturing a paper bag takes about four times as much energy as it takes to produce a plastic bag, plus the chemicals and fertilizers used in producing paper bags create additional harm to the environment.

According to the plastics industry, every plastic grocery bag cost about one penny to produce. A paper bag costs 4 or 5 cents per bag to produce. There are plastic bags that are compostable, but the cost rises to between 8 to 10 cents.

Plastic bags were developed as an alternative to paper bags, whose production resulted in forests being chopped down. The new alternative proposed longer durability, which meant that they could be used over and over again – many more times than a paper bag could handle.

Despite its low durability, one advantage of paper is that it decomposes much more quickly than plastic, and therefore it is less likely to be a source of litter and pose a risk to wildlife. Paper is also more widely recyclable, while plastic bags can take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose.

Bans aren’t Perfect, But They Still Work The upshot of the Sydney study is that the California bag ban reduced plastic bag consumption by 71.5% – a huge decrease. It also took 100% of those plastic grocery bags out of the recycling system, where they bound up machinery and increased costs.

The Queensland Government’s ban on single-use plastics will commence on 1 September 2021, banning single-use plastic straws, drink stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and polystyrene food & beverage containers.

Similarly, in Portland, Oregon, plastic straws and cutlery are only available upon request as of July 1, 2019. Other states that have partial bans on plastic straws include Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, and New York, per Orbitz’ 2019 interactive map.

Last fall the federal government announced a ban of six single-use plastic items that are set to be phased out across the country by 2022. The list includes plastic grocery bags, straws, stir sticks, plastic cutlery, six-pack rings and food containers made from hard-to-recycle plastics.

South Australia Plastic Ban Legislation passed in 2020 with a staged ban commencing 1 March 2021, to be completed 1 March 2022. Products included in the ban: 1 March 2021: Plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery, including PLA compostable version of these items. Bioplastic cups, bowls and lined paper cups are NOT banned.

If you do not stop selling or supplying these items, you could be fined. Your local authority will set the fine. If you bought them before 1 October 2020, you can continue to supply or sell leftover supplies of single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers until 1 April 2021.

1) Page 2 The most common single-use plastics found on beaches are in order of magnitude, cigarette butts, plastic beverage bottles, plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic lids, straws and stirrers, and foam take-away containers.

The California law doesn’t apply to fast food restaurants or convenience stores. Full-service restaurants can still hand out paper or metal straws unprompted by customers. Violators can face a $25 fine per day after two warnings.

Welcome to 2019, the year in which full-services restaurants across California will no longer offer plastic straws to customers. Eater named the “plastic straw ban” the biggest trend of 2018, and in many ways, the Golden State is leading the way on the issue.

Food service businesses were required to use compostable or recyclable food serviceware in 2010, provide recycling and compost bins, and sign up for collection service. Seattle Public Utilities exempted plastic utensils and straws due to a lack of compostable alternatives.

Starting January 1, 2019, full-service restaurants in California were required to only provide plastic straws upon request. The state-wide law does not apply to fast-food restaurants, delis, coffee shops, and other non-full-service restaurants.

In August 2014, California became the first state to enact legislation imposing a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at large retail stores. Proposition 67 passed with 52 percent of the vote, meaning the plastic bag ban approved by the Legislature remains the law.

Plastic Straws on Request SB 90 prohibits food and beverage providers or convenience stores from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless consumers specifically request single-use plastic straws.

Plastic does not biodegrade, but instead, photodegrades into smaller pieces of plastic causing pollution that is virtually impossible to remediate. Marine life, including sea turtles, can be harmed by ingesting plastic straws and brokendown plastic polluting our ocean and waterways.