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Towards a Sustainable Business Model for Plastic Shopping Bag Management in Sweden

Singh, Jagdeep LU orcid and Cooper, Tim (2017) 24th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, CIRP LCE 2017 In Procedia CIRP 61. p.679-684
Abstract

From an environmental perspective, a separate collection and recycling system for post-consumer discards could contribute to improved environmental protection as well as economic benefits. This paper investigates the environmental potential of a business model proposed in Sweden in order to improve the utilization of plastic shopping bags. The business model aims to reduce the consumption of plastic shopping bags and to collect and recycle discarded bags more effectively. Results from a life cycle assessment show that the proposed system could significantly reduce the carbon, energy and water footprints of the current system, even for very pessimistic scenarios for bag purchase and recovery rates. However, wider implementation of the... (More)

From an environmental perspective, a separate collection and recycling system for post-consumer discards could contribute to improved environmental protection as well as economic benefits. This paper investigates the environmental potential of a business model proposed in Sweden in order to improve the utilization of plastic shopping bags. The business model aims to reduce the consumption of plastic shopping bags and to collect and recycle discarded bags more effectively. Results from a life cycle assessment show that the proposed system could significantly reduce the carbon, energy and water footprints of the current system, even for very pessimistic scenarios for bag purchase and recovery rates. However, wider implementation of the proposed business model depends on the accessibility of the deposit/collection system, acceptance of such a 'take-back' system by retail managers, greater environmental awareness among customers and regulatory mechanisms.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
plastic packaging, recycling, shopping bags, Sustainable business models, waste collection
host publication
The 24th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering
series title
Procedia CIRP
volume
61
pages
6 pages
conference name
24th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, CIRP LCE 2017
conference location
Kamakura, Japan
conference dates
2017-03-08 - 2017-03-10
external identifiers
  • scopus:85020021597
ISSN
2212-8271
DOI
10.1016/j.procir.2016.11.268
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
83284ed6-91ad-4bdd-8cd9-8885df76c21a
date added to LUP
2018-06-23 14:05:31
date last changed
2022-03-09 19:24:14
@inproceedings{83284ed6-91ad-4bdd-8cd9-8885df76c21a,
  abstract     = {{<p>From an environmental perspective, a separate collection and recycling system for post-consumer discards could contribute to improved environmental protection as well as economic benefits. This paper investigates the environmental potential of a business model proposed in Sweden in order to improve the utilization of plastic shopping bags. The business model aims to reduce the consumption of plastic shopping bags and to collect and recycle discarded bags more effectively. Results from a life cycle assessment show that the proposed system could significantly reduce the carbon, energy and water footprints of the current system, even for very pessimistic scenarios for bag purchase and recovery rates. However, wider implementation of the proposed business model depends on the accessibility of the deposit/collection system, acceptance of such a 'take-back' system by retail managers, greater environmental awareness among customers and regulatory mechanisms.</p>}},
  author       = {{Singh, Jagdeep and Cooper, Tim}},
  booktitle    = {{The 24th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering}},
  issn         = {{2212-8271}},
  keywords     = {{plastic packaging; recycling; shopping bags; Sustainable business models; waste collection}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{679--684}},
  series       = {{Procedia CIRP}},
  title        = {{Towards a Sustainable Business Model for Plastic Shopping Bag Management in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.11.268}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.procir.2016.11.268}},
  volume       = {{61}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}