An historic invention
From what was once a simple, functional receptacle to what is now an essential marketing tool for retailers across the world, the carrier bag is an often overlooked but essential part of our daily lives. We take for granted how simple and easy carrier bags make once complex tasks, and it’s easy to forget that there was once a time when these items did not exist. From the humble beginnings of the first paper carrier bags to the modern-day printed bags, we will explore the complete history of the carrier bag.
Finding its handle
Surprisingly, there was a time when carrier bags didn’t exist. Mental pictures of people balancing their shopping in their arms or in a sack over their shoulder probably emerge, but it was more common for shoppers to bring their own wicker baskets. These were heavy, not particularly ergonomic, and not especially great for storing lots of items. This was prior to the 19th century (so during the 1700s), so shoppers would typically walk to the market with a wicker basket (or even a bucket or leather sack) to purchase all of their shopping and heave it all home.
This was obviously not ideal and led to innovations during the 19th century aimed at improving the shopping experience. Paper bags were first produced in the mid-19th century, with the first machine for making paper bags patented in 1851. In 1871, flat-bottom paper bags were invented, meaning they could stand on their own and hold higher quantities, and heavier objects. These initial designs were the saplings that would one day turn into the mighty oak called ‘paper carrier bags’ that we use nowadays. The only problem – neither of these bag innovations had handles. They were certainly useful for storing items for easy transport, but without handles, they were very tricky to use for manual transport of shopping.
The invention of the paper carrier bag that we know today is credited to a mix of work from Charles Stillwell and Walter Deubener. In 1883, Stillwell received a grant on a patent to create a machine that would be able to mass produce square-bottom bags – an invention he coined ‘Self-Opening Sacks’. At the turn of the 20th century, Deubner, a grocer, noticed that people were having difficulty using these paper sacks to carry their groceries by hand. Not only did he realise that this caused frustration for customers, but it also limited the amount they could spend in his store.
Over the following few months, Deubner would experiment with prototypes for bags with handles. His eventual ‘eureka’ moment came after awaking in the middle of the night with an idea to punch holes in the top and bottom of the bag, threading string through the holes. String would also be threaded into holes in the side of the bag to form handles and would also be run underneath the bag to reinforce it for extra strength. Deubner and his wife then made some prototypes and tested them, finding that they could easily hold around 10kg worth of goods. They then created 50 bags and sold them in their store for $0.05 USD each, equivalent to around $0.92 USD today. The bags sold out before noon the same day, and eventually Deubner had the invention patented in 1929, after which they moved into the shopping bag business full-time. This was the beginning of the carrier bag with handles.
The Birth of Plastic
Just a few years after the first patent for a paper carrier bag with handles was conceived, two scientists from a chemical plant in Northwich, UK, discovered polythene plastic accidentally. In 1933, while conducting experiments with ethylene (a base material of polythene derived from oil) the scientists accidentally allowed trace amounts of oxygen to enter their ethylene samples. The addition of oxygen into the sample created a completely new substance. Unfortunately, because their experimental mistake simply introduced trace amounts of oxygen into the process, it was difficult to reproduce the results. It wasn’t until a further 5 years had passed, in 1938, that another scientist from the chemical plant would be able to reproduce the results. By 1939, the production of this material, now known as low-density polythene (LDPE) was able to be produced at an industrial scale.
The timing of the industrialisation of LDPE was strategically convenient for the UK war effort. Never before was there such a material that was so cheap to produce, so abundant, so strong, and so light. During the Second World War, polythene was a military secret and strategic advantage for the Allies, enabling innovations such as underwater cable coating and radar insulation for use on planes.
It wasn’t until 1965 that polythene would be used to create a one-piece polythene carrier bag. This invention was designed by an engineer, Sten Gustaf Thulin, and was patented by the Swedish company, Celloplast. These bags became a mainstay in Europe over the ensuing 10 years as a result of their cheapness, lightness, strength and ergonomics. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that plastic carrier bags made it to the USA, and even then, it took a few more years for the largest supermarkets to begin stocking them.
The Reign of Plastic
From the 1980s onwards, plastic carrier bags ruled supreme. These bags were so cost-effective that brands would not even need to charge for them. The original theory by Deubner, way back in the early 20th century, that customers would use carrier bags to increase their consumption was correct. Brands realised that providing carrier bags was not just about helping their customers carry their shopping, but helping them carry more shopping. Polythene was a fantastic material to further exacerbate consumer shopping habits – it’s strength and versatility enabled customers to carry more items easily, and bags could be disposed of after one use.
With businesses across the world focused on convenience and cost savings, polythene proved a useful material option. It wasn’t just single-use bags that were an ideal use case for polythene, this material was perfect for most packaging due to its cleanliness, versatility, and obviously, how cheap it was to produce. Brands blindly committed to this no-brainer material choice in the pursuit of convenience for their consumers and competitiveness in their marketplace. By the turn of the millennium, plastic carrier bags were an unstoppable force, and there was a distinct lack of public awareness (and care from businesses) about any external factors or impacts of this.
The Post-Millennium Environmental Discussions
Though there were always voices of concern for the damaging effects that single-use plastic carrier bags and plastic packaging were having on the environment, it wasn’t really until the turn of the millennium that actual changes were starting to be introduced. A report from the UK Environment Agency in 2011 shows that this was the time when the impact of carrier bags became a real discussion.
By this time, plastic carrier bags were mostly typically lightweight vest-style carrier bags made from high-density polythene (HDPE). These bags were ideal, as they used low amounts of product so were incredibly cheap to produce and store, had high carry-capacities, and were incredibly ergonomic for consumers. The main problem with these bags were that their design was specifically formulated for single use, meaning these bags were commonly disposed of, or worse, littered.
The UK Environment Agency report studied the environmental impact of a range of carrier bag types, concluding that all carrier bag options’ environmental impact is ‘dominated’ by their environmental damage caused in their production stage. It heavily points to re-use as the most important factor in increasing the environmental performance of a carrier bag with respect to its impact on global warming. This however does not consider other damaging factors such as impact on ecosystems – something that plastic decomposition is heavily problematic for. The turn of the 2010s saw the first signs of governments and businesses looking for alternatives to single-use plastic carrier bags.
The Age of Alternative Carrier Bags
For many years, the only carrier bags consumers ever needed were plastic bags. Sure, other options might have been available, but these would have needed to be bought, whereas thin HDPE bags were free.
In the 2000s and 2010s, there were alternatives available for consumers to choose from at many retailers. Fabric tote bags made from materials such as cotton, canvas and jute have been around as long as the plastic carrier bag. These shopping bags provided a reusable, comfortable and stylish alternative, though, their quality often meant retailers would need to charge for the bags.
The ’Bag for Life’ that we know today was conceptualised and launched in 1998. The bag for life is typically a woven polythene bag of much sturdier and ergonomic construction than any lightweight HDPE or LDPE bag. These bags provided a favourable, reusable option for consumers, and have proved popular and effective even to this day. These bags are purchased once, and if broken or damaged, can be returned and replaced. All spent bags are then typically recycled by the supermarket, either by reusing the materials for future bags, or turning them into new items. In the first instance of the bag for life, Waitrose’s closed-loop initiative saw returned & broken bags made into black benches, which were then placed outside of Waitrose stores.
Though increasing reusability was a key factor in addressing the impact of single-use plastic bags, it never addressed the issues that came about from the convenience that these bags had. Because of thus, paper carrier bags became popular among brands and consumers seeking a single-use plastic alternative (don’t call it a comeback). Paper has a wide perception of being environmentally friendly, being made from what is perceived as sustainable materials, and being easy to recycle at home.
The Plastic Carrier Bag Charge
In 2015, the UK Government introduced a policy aimed at reducing the number of single-use plastic carrier bags consumed by UK retail consumers. The policy placed a 5p charge on all single-use plastic carrier bags, intending to disincentivise the use of plastic carrier bags. Because plastic carrier bags were free until this point, this introduced a new consideration for shoppers to consider when shopping. It made it more cost-effective to select reusable options and made UK consumers consider the quantity of single-use bags they were using, rather than mindlessly using as many bags as they wanted.
We won’t spend too much time in this article delving into the details of this charge, as we’ve already created a retrospective deep dive into the charge here. The main takeaway is that the introduction of this charge did affect plastic bag usage, reducing it significantly. In the UK, the average number of single-use carrier bags purchased by the average person has fallen from 140 in 2014, down to just 3 in 2023. It also had the effect of increasing usage of reusable options and even forcing supermarkets to swap out thin vest-style polythene bags for thicker, more ergonomic and reusable polythene bags (which can have varying degrees of benefit). It did not, however, address issues surrounding plastic bag disposal, nor did it completely address the UK’s reliance on plastic carrier bags.
Similar initiatives across the world have sought to curb plastic reliance, with taxes, incentives and straight-up bans introduced to actively affect a behaviour change in consumers. A prevalent issue with this can mostly be traced back to the original conclusion of the 2011 UK Environment Agency report, that the defining impact of all carrier bag types comes from the bag’s production. Even the most eco-friendly alternatives require power and raw materials to create, leading to significant environmental impacts. This sheds light on how reliant the world is on carrier bags, that with even frequent iteration and innovation, we’re still yet to find a true eco-friendly option.
Printed Carrier Bags: The Marketer’s Secret Weapon
There’s no definitive information that confirms when carrier bags began to be printed. In fact, the first iteration of the handled carrier bag by Walter Deubner was decorated by his wife by using magazine cut-outs. From even the very beginning, the opportunity to use a carrier bag as a stylish and impactful tool that can catch the eye of passersby was always recognised.
In the post-war era, marketing and advertising rose in significance alongside consumerism. The opportunity presented to brands to increase their visibility and share their messaging with the masses grew, and the success and value generated from this was invaluable. With the ability to print branding and messaging on carrier bags, just like with product packaging, came a further opportunity to increase brand visibility.
In the 20th century, vast levels of consumption meant a requirement for similarly vast numbers of bags. As such, the impact of printed carrier bags was something brands couldn’t ignore. Nowadays, printed carrier bags are commonplace, though a reduction in single-use bag consumption may have somewhat impacted the effectiveness of the printed bag as a marketing tool.
The modern printed bag has transitioned slightly from what it previously was. Higher consumption of reusable options has meant that branding and messaging on a carrier bag needs to have longevity and greater impact. The influence of digital channels has introduced the need for website information to be included in printed bags, and integrations such as QR codes have become popular to transition between on and offline channels. Further, growth in e-commerce channels has reduced the reliance on printed carrier bags for all shopping interactions, transitioning this to other forms of printed packaging like printed mailing bags. Nevertheless, the marketing impact of a printed carrier bag in the retail arena remains as important as it always has been.
One of the modern evolutions of the printed carrier bag is the luxury gift bag. These bags take what was once a functional tool and turns it into a value-adding piece of branded merchandise. These bags, along with fabric options, are popularly used at events for holding branded merchandise. For high-end events hosted by big brands, these bags enable the highest level of customisation possible. The luxury bag enables customisation of all aspects of the bag, not just the print, levelling up the idea of a ‘printed carrier bag’ to a truly ‘bespoke carrier bag’. Seeing how much value these bags can add to an event experience, many high-end retail brands are beginning to adopt these as their retail carrier bag, potentially indicating the direction of the next era of printed carrier bags.
The Truth About Environmental Impact
As we enter into the second quarter of the 21st century, we’re beginning to wake up to the many facets of environmental impact. It’s not just about the impact of disposal or production, it’s about the net impact of all of the stages of a bag’s life cycle. This has significant implications for carrier bags, as well as the entire packaging industry. The past 20 years have been a war against plastic, because the previous 30 years showcased the environmentally destructive nature of an unregulated ‘plastic-everything’ approach. The problem is, as we transition away from plastic, we’re replacing a problem with more problems. Our blog on what makes a truly eco-friendly carrier bag delves deeper into this topic, but what we’re seeing is the wrong solution implemented for the issues we’re seeing with the impact of single-use plastics.
As we mentioned earlier, when we discussed the initial discovery of polythene, plastic is made from a substance called ethylene. Ethylene is a byproduct of fossil fuel production, and as such, is considered a waste product. The manufacturing of plastic in many instances is a positive utilisation of this waste product. The problem lies in our over-reliance on fossil fuels, which means that in the medium-long term, polythene reliance will need to be reduced alongside our reliance on fossil fuels.
However, though paper is perceived as an eco-friendly alternative to polythene, its production and transportation are much more environmentally damaging than polythene. This is because of both the highly damaging effects of deforestation required to source wood to make paper pulp, as well as the large amounts of water and energy required in its production. Furthermore, though paper can be recycled, stats suggest that a significant portion of paper waste is not recycled, either because it is not disposed of correctly, or the paper has reached the end of its useful life.
Reusable alternatives such as cotton, canvas and jute also have significant environmental drawbacks. Although they help customers avoid single-use options, a cotton bag needs to be reused 7,100 times for it to be considered an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic.
Many brands are beginning to realise that, in the pursuit of an anti-plastic transition, we’ve regressed on progress towards environmental friendliness. Many well-researched and considered brands are transitioning away from paper & fabric options, and in many cases, moving back to polythene. We’re not saying here that plastic is the best material option for carrier bags – in the UK, plastic carrier bags cannot be recycled at home, meaning they will always have a significant disposal impact until this is addressed. However, these bags are recyclable at specific recycling points, meaning that when the loop is closed, brands are finding them to be the best balance of cost & environmental impact.
Who knows what’s in store for the future of the carrier bag? Certainly, if consumer culture continues to be popular, we’ll forever rely on its functionality and marketing benefits. But as their environmental impact becomes ever more prevalent, a transition to more sustainable and less damaging innovations will become imperative.
