RePapaPac

Morrisons-branded reusable paper bags / Source: Morrisons

EuropeFibreFormFood & BeveragePackagingPaper

5 MINUTE READ

Kaltrina Bylykbashi

WHAT WE SAY:

The sentiment behind the plastic ‘bag for life’ is understandable: use one bag forever and skip thousands of single-use carriers. But the reality is they contain three times as much plastic as their single-use counterparts and they’ve significantly contributed to rising levels of plastic use among supermarkets.

In response, AB Group Packaging and Billerud have created a bag for life using FibreForm, a paper-like material which is stronger and more elastic than paper and, crucially, plastic-free. This is a bag for life we’d be happy to be seen with.

KEY FACTS:

RePapaPac is a reusable bag manufactured from renewable Paper sources derived from PEFC-certified forests.
Like the plastic bags it's replacing, RePapaPac is water and tear-resistant. AB Group Packaging claims the bags can withstand weights of up to 16 kilograms for 43 usage cycles – more than 860 lifts.
At the end-of-life, RePapaPac can be recycled in the paper waste stream. It is also biodegradable.
UK supermarket Morrisons introduced RePapaPac into stores in 2020, becoming the first supermarket to remove all plastic carrier bags at checkouts.

A reusable paper bag / Source: AB Group Packaging

Reusable paper bags in-store / Source: Morrisons

DIVE DEEPER:

Reinforced plastic bags for life were created to encourage consumers to reuse bags and move away from single-use items. However, a study by Greenpeace shows that this project has largely been a failure. It found that 1.58 billion ‘bags for life’ were issued in the UK in 2019 – roughly 57 per household, and a 4.5% increase on 2018 levels.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer sold six times as many bags for life in 2019 as the year before, and supermarket Iceland tripled its sales to 107.3 million, up from 34 million in 2018.
For the carbon footprint of a bag for life to be equivalent to that of a single-use plastic carrier bag, it would need to be used between four and 11 times. And if a bag for life were to end up in the environment after use, it would be more durable and persistent than a thinner carrier.
RePapaPac was introduced in 2020 as a plastic-free, low-carbon replacement for bags for life.
The bag is made from FibreForm, manufactured by Billerud. It is a cold-formable, renewable material made from paper sources from sustainably managed, PEFC-certified forests.
FibreForm is an ideal choice for carrying heavy shopping as it has high levels of elasticity – 20% versus 2-4% for normal paper.
RePapaPac is manufactured in Ireland, the UK, and Spain by AB Group Packaging. It was initially offered to major UK supermarkets who the group felt were behind the rest of Europe in adopting paper solutions.
AB Group claims RePapaPac is 100% recyclable, compostable and biodegradable. As it’s plastic-free, it also says the bag is marine-safe.
A square base and side gussets are designed for easy folding for storage and reuse. Converters can produce the bags with similar levels of productivity to plastic and on the same machinery. Only minor adjustments are needed.
As it’s a paper material, the RePapaPac can be easily printed with branding, brand colours, product benefits and instructions for reuse and disposal.
UK supermarket Morrisons initially trialled RePapaPac in eight locations for 12 weeks before rolling it out to all stores at a price of 0.20 GPB (0.27 USD), the same as a standard plastic bag. The supermarket estimated that removing plastic bags for life across all stores would save 90 million from being used, removing 3,510 tonnes of plastic a year.
In 2021, Morrisons removed all plastic bags for life from its stores, offering only the reusable paper alternative.
Swedish environmental institute IVL carried out an LCA of the FibreForm bag and found it produced half the CO2 emissions of a paper bag made from 85% recycled paper, and around a third of the emissions produced by bio-based or recycled plastic bags.
Billerud claims its paper production is currently 97% fossil-free. By 2030, it says all integrated mills will be entirely fossil-free.
Dow Jones has placed Billerud among the top 10% most sustainable companies in the world five years in a row, and in 2021, it received the EcoVadis Platinum rating, putting it in the top 1% of rated companies.
100% of electricity used by AB Group Packaging comes from renewable sources and it holds an International Pollution Prevention Licence, awarded only when a company prevents pollution release to the atmosphere, water and soil.

"Our paper production is currently 97% fossil-free. By 2030, all mills will be entirely fossil-free."

Billerud

Key Design Considerations:

Encouraging reuse

As evidenced by the number of plastic bags for life sold, just because a product is reusable, it doesn’t mean it will be reused. Can you incentivise reuse through in-store rewards to help your customers form habits?

From virgin to recycled materials

RePapaPac is PEFC-certified, but the bags are made from virgin fibre. Can you work with the manufacturer to investigate the use of recycled materials?

The bigger picture

Currently, RePapaPac is a carrier bag solution, but consider which other plastic-heavy areas you could tackle, such as in-store bags for loose produce.

Overcoming preconceptions

Paper bags are often associated with tearing and disintegrating in the rain, so it’s a perception hurdle you’ll need to overcome. Morrisons communicates that the bag is tear-resistant, water-resistant and tested up to 16 kilograms on the bag itself, while Billerud released a tongue-in-cheek ‘extreme training’ advert which showed gym-goers lifting heavy bags instead of weights.

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RePapaPac

WHAT WE SAY:

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

UK retailer Marks & Spencer sold six times as many bags for life in 2019 as the year before, and supermarket Iceland tripled its sales to 107.3 million, up from 34 million in 2018.

For the carbon footprint of a bag for life to be equivalent to that of a single-use plastic carrier bag, it would need to be used between four and 11 times. And if a bag for life were to end up in the environment after use, it would be more durable and persistent than a thinner carrier.

RePapaPac was introduced in 2020 as a plastic-free, low-carbon replacement for bags for life.

The bag is made from FibreForm, manufactured by Billerud. It is a cold-formable, renewable material made from paper sources from sustainably managed, PEFC-certified forests.

FibreForm is an ideal choice for carrying heavy shopping as it has high levels of elasticity – 20% versus 2-4% for normal paper.

RePapaPac is manufactured in Ireland, the UK, and Spain by AB Group Packaging. It was initially offered to major UK supermarkets who the group felt were behind the rest of Europe in adopting paper solutions.

AB Group claims RePapaPac is 100% recyclable, compostable and biodegradable. As it’s plastic-free, it also says the bag is marine-safe.

A square base and side gussets are designed for easy folding for storage and reuse. Converters can produce the bags with similar levels of productivity to plastic and on the same machinery. Only minor adjustments are needed.

As it’s a paper material, the RePapaPac can be easily printed with branding, brand colours, product benefits and instructions for reuse and disposal.

In 2021, Morrisons removed all plastic bags for life from its stores, offering only the reusable paper alternative.

Swedish environmental institute IVL carried out an LCA of the FibreForm bag and found it produced half the CO2 emissions of a paper bag made from 85% recycled paper, and around a third of the emissions produced by bio-based or recycled plastic bags.

Billerud claims its paper production is currently 97% fossil-free. By 2030, it says all integrated mills will be entirely fossil-free.

Dow Jones has placed Billerud among the top 10% most sustainable companies in the world five years in a row, and in 2021, it received the EcoVadis Platinum rating, putting it in the top 1% of rated companies.

100% of electricity used by AB Group Packaging comes from renewable sources and it holds an International Pollution Prevention Licence, awarded only when a company prevents pollution release to the atmosphere, water and soil.

Billerud

Key Design Considerations:

Encouraging reuse

From virgin to recycled materials

The bigger picture

Overcoming preconceptions

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