Evaluation of Durability of Nonwoven Bags

Recently, the thin plastic-film bags distributed at thousands of checkouts across the United States have been targeted by environmental advocacy groups as wasteful nuisance packaging, and many places have passed legislation to ban or restrict their distribution. The resulting demand for a more durable grocery bag able to withstand reuse has led to a rise in popularity for nonwoven bags made from fabric, and the relative durability and low cost of nonwoven polypropylene fabric has made it a popular choice of material.

However, studies have shown that these bags come with their own set of issues: many consumers do not reuse their bags enough to recoup the additional cost of materials and energy needed to create the thicker material. Many of the bag laws offer guidelines for determining if a given bag officially qualifies as “reusable,” but at this time, virtually no data exists regarding the real-world durability of nonwoven polypropylene bags.