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Consumption

One paper bag (grocery size)

Yksi paperikassi (ruokakauppa)

0.4
Truecost score
Data confidence: HIGH

Carbon well-established from Ashby (2012) and UK EA (2011). Water from USGS industry data. Land and toxicity are rough estimates.

A grocery paper bag produces ~64 g CO₂e and requires ~3.8 liters of water to manufacture. Its carbon footprint is roughly 4x that of an HDPE plastic bag.

Did you know? A paper bag must be reused at least 3-5 times to match the climate impact of a single-use HDPE plastic bag.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.064 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 0.67 ×0.35 0.23 HIGH
Water Consumption 3.8 liters 3840 liters 0.1 ×0.2 0.02 MEDIUM
Land Use 0.012 m²·year 51 m²·year 0.02 ×0.2 0.00 LOW
Waste 0.055 kg 5 kg 1.1 ×0.15 0.17 HIGH
Toxicity 0.3 µDALY 162 µDALY 0.19 ×0.1 0.02 LOW
Truecost score (weighted sum) 0.4

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions <0.01%
Water Consumption <0.01%
Land Use <0.01%
Waste 0.01%
Toxicity <0.01%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Ashby (2012) Materials and the Environment: 64 g CO₂e per paper grocery bag. Includes forestry, pulp/paper manufacturing, transport. MIT Sustainability confirms this figure. UK Environment Agency (2011) found paper bags ~3-4x higher GWP than HDPE bags.
  • Ashby M F (2012): Materials and the Environment, Chapter 8 — Cambridge University Press
  • UK Environment Agency (2011): Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags — Report SC030148

Range across studies: 56–80 g CO₂e for standard grocery paper bag. Higher for bleached or handled bags. UK EA study gives higher values for larger UK carrier bags.

Water Consumption
MEDIUM
USGS data: ~1,004 gallons per 1,000 paper bags = ~3.8 liters per bag. Pulp production requires 10-50 L/kg paper; a 55g bag uses proportionally ~0.6-2.8 L in pulping alone, plus forestry water.
  • USGS: Water Requirements of Selected Industries — Water-Supply Paper 1330-A
  • UD-TECH (2024): Water Consumption in the Pulp and Paper Industry

Paper production uses ~4x the water of plastic bag production. Varies by mill technology.

Land Use
LOW
Managed forestry yields ~5-10 m³ wood/ha/year. 1 m³ wood ≈ 400 kg paper. A 55g bag = 0.000055/400 × 10,000 m² ≈ 0.0014 m². With rotation cycles and lower yields, ~0.012 m²·year is reasonable.
  • FAO (2020): Global Forest Resources Assessment

Highly variable by forest type and geography. Managed Nordic forests vs tropical plantations differ greatly.

Waste
HIGH
Bag weight ~55g. If not recycled, entire bag becomes waste. Recyclable and compostable, but actual recycling rates vary (20-50%).
  • UK Environment Agency (2011): Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags

Paper bags are biodegradable and compostable, unlike plastic. But landfilled paper produces methane.

Toxicity
LOW
Pulp mills emit chlorine compounds, reduced sulfur compounds, and volatile organic compounds. Paper production generates 70% more air pollution than plastic bag production. Estimated µDALY allocation per bag is small but non-trivial.
  • Bajpai (2019): Pollutants released from the pulp paper industry — Aquatic Toxicology 222

Toxicity depends heavily on bleaching process (chlorine vs. elemental chlorine-free vs. totally chlorine-free).

Comparisons

Methodology

Based on Ashby (2012) lifecycle analysis and UK Environment Agency (2011) carrier bag LCA. Covers forestry, pulp production, paper manufacturing, printing, and transport.

Sources