Why paper can’t be the solution to Canada’s plastic ban — yet

Canada's ban on single-use plastics isn't in full force yet but already the use of paper bags as well as other paper products is on the rise. That's a concern for environmentalists, who say forests shouldn't be depleted for single-use products.

The potential impact to the world's forests is quite devastating," says Tamara Stark, campaign director for Canopy, an environmental non-profit, noting that the amount of packaging being used globally more than doubled in the past couple of decades before any sort of ban.

The growing consumption rates that we're seeing will continue to apply pressure to the world's intact forests ... forests that we actually need to keep standing in order to protect both the diversity of species that depend on them, but also to mitigate against climate change," says Stark.

They can provide more service to humanity by providing that function rather than being turned into disposable products," she says.

Canopy partners with global brands, free of charge, to advise them on supply chains that don't rely on paper products made from endangered or old-growth forests, and to help companies look for next-generation solutions.

Paper bags start to replace plastic

In Canada, paper bags began to appear at grocery chains in advance of the single-use plastic ban, which began in December, when prohibitions on the manufacture and import for sale of checkout bags, cutlery, stir sticks and straws, as well as some types of plastic takeout containers began.

In many circumstances, we have seen single-use plastics be replaced by providing a paper bag," says Stark. And what level of recycled content is in each of those bags? Are they sustainable? Have they been certified? There is very little criteria being applied."

At the end of this year, sales of the banned items will be prohibited in Canada, and by the end of 2025, the items won't be allowed to be manufactured or sold for export.

Fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's have already swapped out plastic straws for paper ones and many establishments have substituted paper or compostable takeout containers for plastic. (McDonald's paper straws are accepted in Toronto's recycling program because they are not lined with wax or paper.)

Canopy was one of 188 environmental groups that called for an end to single-use, throwaway commodities in February 2021, on the eve of a United Nations Environment Assembly meeting.

Single-use products, from packaging to food containers, to disposable cups and cutlery, are a key contributor to the 2 billion tonnes of waste that humans produce every year," according to a statement released at the time by Canopy. That number is projected to increase 70 per cent by 2050."

We're depleting the very life support systems that we all need to survive, simply for the supposed convenience of single-use products," Stark was quoted as saying.

At the time, the demand for packaging was growing even more, as consumers turned to online shopping during the pandemic. Numerous producers in the U.S. of fine paper, such as stationery or magazine print, converted their production facilities to make packaging.

That demand will only increase as companies and consumers look for alternatives to plastic packaging, as well as drive up the use of paper bags, according to a marketing analysis company.

Currently, about three billion trees are cut down each year to make paper products.

Paper does have the advantage of being more easily recycled, with only nine per cent or so of plastics recycled globally.

In large municipalities such as Toronto, about 92 per cent of fibre material, which includes clean corrugated cardboard, paper and paperboards, gets recycled, according to the city's Solid Waste Management Services.

A new way to make pulp

But just because something is made of paper doesn't mean it can go in the Blue Box.

Paper takeout containers lined with wax or plastic, which can be identified by ripping the cardboard, are destined for landfill. (Unlined paper contaminated by food goes in the Green Bin.)

Another downside is that studies show it takes considerably more resources to make a paper bag than a plastic one.

There is, however, a lot of emerging innovation in the paper industry, including using cellulose from agricultural waste and other plants, instead of trees, to make pulp.

In India alone, 90 million tonnes of agricultural waste is burned every year, says Stark, which is a disaster from a climate and CO2 perspective, but also causes air pollution and respiratory illness.

It could be providing an alternative economy for those farmers and take pressure off forests at the same time that would provide new sources of fibre that is an annual crop that's a regenerative feedstock," she says.

Until recently, Columbia Pulp, a large mill in the U.S., was using wheat straw from farmers' fields to create pulp, but the mill shut down because it could only produce a high yield of pulp daily, too much for an emerging market.

Instead of the western wheat farmers burning the field, they were actually taking it, harvesting it and pulping the straw," says Eric Ouderkirk, the chief operating officer of Mohawk Paper in upstate New York.

The company, which makes high-end paper products for luxury brands such as Tiffany, Cartier and Land Rover, was using the pulp in a mix with wood pulp to make paper.

Ouderkirk says the company continues to use alternative sources such as imported hemp from Spain, but one of the challenges is that the plant's fibres aren't as long as those in wood, so it's more difficult to use. Mohawk is trying to develop a hemp that has a fibre length similar to wood pulp, maple in particular, says Ouderkirk, as well as find a source for the plant closer to home.

He says the interest in using alternative sources for pulp is immense, and he gets calls all the time asking if certain materials can be used, including cannabis, because most of the plant is left behind after the bud is harvested.

Ouderkirk believes there's enough agricultural waste in the U.S. to replace large quantities of wood pulp but reliable supply chains and price are issues.

In New York state, we actually have the bag ban in place," says Ouderkirk. And the choices are either bring your own, which most people do, or buy a paper bag.

And I would say that the challenge would be a paper bag for groceries is pretty inexpensive to produce. Could you produce it with an (agricultural waste) paper? You could," says Ouderkirk. But right now, with the supply chain is in its infancy, it probably wouldn't be at a very attractive price."

There are many more solutions to reduce packaging, says Stark, such as right-sized packaging and refillable containers.

And governments can step in, she says, and provide incentives for businesses that want to have a lower carbon footprint or less impact on biodiversity, as well as disincentives for those that don't.

They can provide levies as well as subsidies and support," says Stark, progressive subsidies that would enable the rapid expansion and scale-up of production methods that would be better served to protect the planet."

Patty Winsa is a Toronto-based data reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: pwinsa@thestar.ca