What is a non-woven bag?
The professional name of non-woven fabric should be non-woven fabric. The national standard GB/T5709-1997 for textile non-woven fabric defines non-woven fabric as fibers arranged in a directional or random manner, which are rubbed, held, bonded, or a combination of these methods. It does not include paper, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, tufted fabrics, and wet felt products. It is commonly used in our daily lives as masks, diapers, sanitary napkins, wet wipes, cotton wipes, industrial dust filter bags, geotextiles, automotive interiors, carpets, air purification filter materials, and other products.
It is a technology textile manufactured for special purposes, with very low cost compared to usage time. Spunbond is a technical textile fabric composed of 100% polypropylene raw materials. Unlike other fabric products, it is defined as non-woven fabric. The main material used to make non-woven bags.
Non woven bag, as the name suggests, is a type of cutting and sewing bag made from non-woven fabric. At present, its materials are mainly polypropylene spunbond nonwoven fabric and polyester spunbond nonwoven fabric, and its process has evolved from chemical fiber spinning.
Where are non-woven bags active?
In 2007, after the release of the “Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Restricting the Production, Sale, and Use of Plastic Shopping Bags” (the “Plastic Restriction Order”), the production, sale, and use of traditional disposable plastic bags were comprehensively restricted. The “Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control” released in 2020 further raised the ban on disposable plastics.
Non woven bags are favored by some businesses for their features such as “reusable”, “low cost”, “sturdy and durable”, and “printing of relevant content that supports brand promotion”. Some cities have banned plastic bags, making non-woven bags a substitute for disposable plastic bags and widely appearing in various industries, especially supermarkets and farmers’ markets. In recent years, the packaging of takeaway food has also appeared more in the sight of consumers. Some “insulation bags” used for food insulation are also made of non-woven fabric as their outer layer material.
Research on the recognition, reuse, and handling of non-woven bags
In response to consumers’ awareness, reuse, and disposal of non-woven bags, Meituan Qingshan Plan jointly conducted a random sampling questionnaire survey.
The survey results show that nearly 70% of the respondents correctly selected the visual recognition “non-woven bag” from the following three bags. 1/10 of the respondents learned that the main raw material for non-woven bags is polymer.
Consumer awareness of non-woven bag materials
Out of 788 respondents who correctly selected the corresponding sample images for non-woven bags, 7% stated that they receive an average of 1-3 non-woven bags per month. For the received non-woven bags (clean and undamaged), 61.7% of respondents will use them again for loading items, 23% will use them again for loading items, and 4% choose to discard them directly.
Most respondents (93%) choose to dispose of these reusable non-woven bags together with household waste. The reasons why non-woven bags are not reused, such as “poor quality,” “low applicability,” “unsightly,” and “other alternative bags,” have been mentioned more frequently.
Reasons for not reusing non-woven bags
Generally speaking, consumers lack sufficient understanding of non-woven bags, resulting in some non-woven bags not being fully and reasonably used and reused.
Sustainable packaging recommendations
According to the priority order of waste management, this guide follows the perspective of “source reduction reuse recycling” combined with the life cycle, and proposes suggestions for the use and disposal of non-woven bags to help catering businesses and consumers choose more sustainable packaging strategies and practice green consumption models.
a. Ensure the “reusable” feature of non-woven bags
After a certain number of times of recycling, the environmental impact of non-woven bags will be smaller than that of traditional disposable non degradable plastic bags. Therefore, the first step is to promote the reuse of non-woven bags.
Catering merchants should require suppliers to produce non-woven shopping bags according to the FZ/T64035-2014 non-woven fabric shopping bag standard to ensure the quality of the entire production process. They should purchase non-woven bags that meet the standard requirements to ensure the durability and service life of the non-woven bags. Only when the number of uses is much greater than that of plastic bags, can it better reflect its environmental value, which is one of the hard conditions for non-woven bags as environmentally friendly bags.
In addition, businesses need to design and produce non-woven bags based on the actual usage needs of consumers, while matching their willingness to use non-woven bags. This will reduce the limitations of factors such as appearance, size, and load-bearing range, and promote the reuse of non-woven bags.
In summary, at present, catering businesses and consumers can consider the following suggestions to view and use non-woven bags more reasonably.
b. Reduce the use of unnecessary non-woven bags
Merchant:
1. Before packaging and delivering meals in offline stores, consult with consumers whether they need bags;
2. Choose appropriate outer packaging bags based on the actual needs of the food;
3. The space utilization of bags should be optimized according to the quantity of food, to avoid the situation of “large bags with small meals”;
4. Based on the operation of the store, order the appropriate quantity of bags to avoid excessive waste.
consumer:
1. If you bring your own bag, inform the merchant in advance that you do not need to pack the bag;
2. According to one’s own usage needs, if the non-woven bag cannot be reused multiple times, one should actively refuse the non-woven bag provided by the merchant.
c. Fully utilize
Merchant:
Online and offline stores should provide corresponding reminders and promote offline packaging for consumers. Encourage consumers to reuse existing non-woven bags, and businesses can develop corresponding incentive measures where feasible.
consumer:
Count the existing non-woven bags and other reusable bags at home. When packaging or shopping is needed, prioritize using these bags and use them as much as possible.
d. Using a closed-loop system
Merchant:
1. Businesses with conditions can carry out non-woven bag recycling activities, set up corresponding recycling facilities and promotional guidance, and encourage consumers to send non-woven bags to recycling points;
2. Strengthen cooperation with resource recycling enterprises to improve the reuse rate of non-woven bags.
consumer:
Non woven bags that are damaged, contaminated, or cannot be used anymore should be sent to recycling sites for recycling as soon as conditions permit.
Action Cases
Meixue Ice City has partnered with Meituan Qingshan Plan to carry out special non-woven bag recycling activities in Zhengzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Guangzhou. This activity is not limited to brands, but provides a new direction for consumers’ idle non-woven bags: after the non-woven bags are recycled, third-party enterprises are commissioned to carry out recycling processing, manufacture other products, and reduce the consumption of raw materials.
At the same time, the event also set up corresponding reward mechanisms for “bringing your own packaging bag” and “no need for packaging bag”. Intended to advocate for consumers to reduce the use of unnecessary disposable packaging and jointly promote sustainable and responsible consumption.
Through the above actions and practices, businesses can not only reduce business losses and save costs, but also reduce unnecessary consumption of disposable items, protect the environment, and enhance brand image while meeting consumer needs. Consumers continuing to practice green consumption behavior can also help businesses change their business models. In April 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Recycling and Utilization of Waste Textiles”. At present, enterprises and resource recycling institutions related to the non-woven shopping bag industry chain are also jointly drafting the “Standard for Recycled Polypropylene Non woven Shopping Bag Group”. I believe that the green production and recycling system of non-woven bags will be more perfect in the future.
Although packaging is only a part of the catering industry, through continuous and reasonable sustainable packaging practices, it can promote the sustainable transformation of the catering industry. Let’s act together quickly and harmoniously!
Dongguan Liansheng Non woven Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2020. It is a large-scale non-woven fabric production enterprise integrating research and development, production, and sales. It can produce various colors of PP spunbond non-woven fabrics with a width of less than 3.2 meters from 9 grams to 300 grams.
Post time: Sep-02-2024