The Cat’s out of the Bag:

The True Ecological Cost of Ziploc Bags

Steven Garcia & Rebecca Hilbert

ENVL Issues 4300
Professor Tait Chirenje
Stockton University
3/8/2018
 Abstract
No one could have predicted that Ziploc bags would grow into the major industry they are today.

But such growth comes with a cost, an environmental one. As one of the most popular plastic

products in the world, every step of a bag’s life leaves a footprint behind. In 2011 the oil and

natural gas sector emitted 225 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and refineries released 182

million metric tons of emission. The plastic industry alone makes up 14% of the national

emissions total. The disposal of these bags are highly damaging to our ecosystems as they are

often left behind as litter and marine pollution. Fortunately, we are beginning to see a change in

the awareness of the impacts. Due to consumer concerns, Ziploc has introduced environmentally

friendly products that use less plastic, are made from renewable energy, and can be composted.

In order to create a more sustainable future, we must first understand the impacts of the products

we use everyday.
 Table of Contents

Abstract 2

Table of Contents 3

The Birth of Ziploc Bags 4

Inside the Ziploc Bag 6

The Impacts of the Components 8

Who uses it and how much? 15

We are the Problem and the Solution 16

References 17

Appendix 19
Figure 1: First patent of a plastic zipper design 19
Figure 2: Rankings of industries based on amount of CO2 emissions 19
Figure 3: Breakdown of the energy sources used by the Transportation Industry 20
Figure 4: U.S. population: Amount of plastic sandwich bags used within 7 days from 2011 to
2017 20
Equation 1: Gallons of Oil per Plastic Bag 20
The Birth of Ziploc Bags

There are many inventions that have changed the world so radically, it would be hard to

imagine life without them. Although only existing for half a century, ziploc bags have gone from

a questionable concept to a internationally recognized commodity. This did not happen overnight

as the classic ziploc bag came to be in a series of stages, with each component of the bag being

developed separately from the other. Initially, the press to close plastic zipper evolved from the

inventor Borge Madsen’s attempt to create a futuristic clothing zipper (“Reclosable Bags: From

Yesterday to Today”, 2017). 1951 was the year Madsen applied for a patent for a plastic slide

fastener (seen in Figure 1). Instead of the teeth we regularly see on regular zippers, Madsen’s

design consisted of a sliding tab and interlocking plastic tracks with two engaging areas instead

of the one we see in modern ziplocs (“Reclosable Bags: From Yesterday to Today”, 2017). This

new design was innovative but was impractical for clothing and did not gain much traction.

Within the same year, two interested businessmen, Max Ausnit and his son Steven Ausnit

purchased Madsen’s patent and founded Flexigrip Corporation with the intention of developing

and marketing a product based on Madsen’s invention (“Reclosable Bags: From Yesterday to

Today”, 2017). Flat liner vinyl pencil cases, looseleaf binder inserts, and flat briefcases were

among the first applications, but the high manufacturing cost restricted the Ausnit’s products

from becoming accessible to the public at large (“History of the Ziploc Bag”, 2016). This

problem was partly solved by Steven Ausnit’s invention of the “press-and-seal” type zipper

which cut down cost and increased convenience. But this was not enough as Flexigrip had been

using an expensive heat seal process to attach string zipper profiles to the film before converting
into bags referred to as “post applied zipper bags” (“History of the Ziploc Bag”, 2016). It wasn't

until Steven Ausnit discovered the Japanese company, Seisan Nippon Sha, which had

incorporated a zipper right into the bag, creating what industry refers to as integrated zipper bags

(“Reclosable Bags: From Yesterday to Today”, 2017). This was Flexigrip’s golden ticket to mass

availability as this process cut manufacturing cost in half. Flexigrip was able to negotiate

exclusive selling rights to the US and created a company called Minigrip to market this new

product. Minigrip primarily focused on industrial bags with the thin red color line trademark

above the zipper until 1964 when they were approached by DOW chemicals for exclusive rights

in the supermarket industry. DOW’s high quality polyethylene resin bags were a perfect match

for Minigrip’s reclosable plastic zippers and after years of negotiation the ziploc was introduced

to the consumer market in 1968 (“Reclosable Bags: From Yesterday to Today”, 2017).

From here it took a couple of years for the bags to catch on but by the early 1970’s the

Ziploc brand bag had become immensely popular and was being used by consumers for

everything from storing sandwiches for school lunches to transporting fish home from the pet

store. DOW eventually sold the ziploc brand to S.C Johnson in 1997 around the same time other

resealable bag companies began to emerge (“Reclosable Bags: From Yesterday to Today”,

2017). However, the Ziploc brand remains the largest and most well known of all the resealable

plastic bag brands.

Inside the Ziploc Bag

One would be hard pressed to assume that a ziploc bag is a simple product. However, the

process to create a ziploc bag is very complicated. In this paper we will be focusing on the
Ziploc brand quart storage bags. Other plastic bags are made of similar plastic blends but can

vary in their combination of dyes and inks. Ziploc quart storage bags are made out of three main

components: plastic, dyes, and inks. The plastic of the ziploc bag uses two types of plastics,

specifically two types of polyethylene (Johnson, 2018). Polyethylene is a polyolefin, which are

high molecular weight hydrocarbons and are the only plastics that weigh less than water.

Polyethylene low density (LDPE) has the most extensive branching compared to other

polyolefins resulting in its low density of 0.910-0925 g /cm 3 and less compact molecular

structure. Exhibiting a density of 0.91-0.94 g /cm 3 polyethylene-linear low density (LLDPE) is

much stronger and is able to better withstand environments of high stress unlike LDPE

(Terracast, 2016). This increased resilience comes from LLDPE’s greater number of shorter

branches. These branches are able to support each other and don't entangle with each other upon

elongation, increasing strength and resistance (Terracast, 2016).

The actual percentage blend of LDPE and LLDPE is proprietary information. This was

confirmed by calling the division of Ziploc bags within the S.C. Johnson hotline. However, it is

safe to assume that the composition of Ziploc bags are 99% of this secret polyethylene blend

with the other 1% comprising of dyes and inks. The actual process of Ziploc bags are also

proprietary information, confirmed through a call to the company. Generally, resealable plastic

bags are created by melting down the polyethylene blend to a point where it becomes pliable.

They are then poured into a very thin mold that is in the shape and size of the specific bag being

made. The closures on the bags are formed in separate molds out of stronger, thicker plastic,

most likely LLDPE. Finally, the closure tracks are then transfixed to the lips of the baggies (Lee,

2009).
 Ziploc quart storage bags utilize dyes for aesthetic reasons or to signal when the bag has

been used up (Johnson, 2018). These dyes are the Clariant PE33760091 Red and the Clariant

PE53760090 Blue, both manufactured by Clariant. Both of these dyes are proprietary

information so we will discuss dyes in general. Dyes are usually soluble or can be made to be

soluble in water. Once a dye is dissolved in water, the material to be dyed can be immersed in

the dye solution (Science Clarified, 2007). As the material soaks up the dye and dries, it develops

a color. If the material then retains that color after being washed, the dye is said to be colorfast

(Science Clarified, 2007). Some of the general ingredients in dyes are derivatives of crude oil,

acetic acid, formic acid, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite, sodium

chlorite, sodium chloride, and sodium silicate (World of Chemicals, n.d.). These chemicals are

blended together to create new compounds whether it be through a physical or chemical process.

Lastly, Ziploc quart storage bags also adopt two types of inks that are used to print the

write-on patch on the plastic bag (Johnson, 2018). These inks are both water based with official

names of HYDRO Film Dow Fast Dry EH 70388 and HYDRO Flow Dow EH 70393 White.

Both inks are manufactured by Environmental Inks and Coatings, a company overseen by the

bigger Siegwerk corporation. The exact specificifications and manufacturing processes of these

inks are proprietary properties of Siegwerk so we will talk about their general makeup. Inks are

generally made out of a pigment, a binder/varnish, a solvent, and an additive (Lichtenberger,

2004). These components are brought together in a physical or chemical process, much like dyes.
The Impacts of the Components

It is important that consumers understand that buying a product like a Ziploc bag doesn’t

just have an monetary cost, but an environmental cost at well. To explain this, we break down

the origins and impacts of the main ingredients of the bags: polyethylene, dyes and inks. The

manufacturing and distributing process must be discussed as well to get the whole picture.

Polyethylene

Polyethylene is a thermoplastic polymer with variable crystalline and is one of the most

popular plastics in the world. In fact, according to the Essential Chemical Industry, over 80

million tons of it is produced worldwide every year. Polyethylene used in Ziploc bags is derived

from either modifying natural gas, like a methane, ethane, propane mix, or from the catalytic

cracking of crude oil into gasoline. The plants that produce this plastic are mainly concentrated

geographically on the Gulf Coast, because the raw material, ethylene, is supplied by pipeline. In

a highly purified form, polyethylene is piped directly from the refinery to a separate

polymerisation plant. (Lazonby 2017).

Extraction of the raw materials to produce polyethylene is a highly unsustainable and

damaging process. Drilling for crude oil and natural gas involves the use of water or gas pressure

systems and causes a lot of environmental issues including wildlife disruption, oil spills on and

around the drilling site, and methane emissions that contribute to climate change (TWS 2017).

Oil spills are a catastrophic environmental risk of drilling and it can cost millions of dollars to try

and mitigate the damage that often has lasting effects on the environment for years to come. For
example, the 2015 El Capitan State Beach spill in Goleta, CA, spilled 2,500 barrels of oil from a

pipeline, costing $62 million to clean 100 miles of coastline (Yurgaitis 2017).

Natural gas is another resource besides oil used to make polyethylene and is obtained

through fracking. The plastic industry uses it for its potentially high ethane content (PAPREC

2018). The environmental damage caused by fracking could be an entire paper by itself.

According to the EPA, the major impacts of this processes can potentially create contamination

of ground and surface water, methane emissions, air pollution, migration of gases and hydraulic

fracturing chemicals and radionuclides to the surface. Additional risks include the potential

mishandling of solid waste, drill cuttings, increased seismicity and associated effects on human

and ecosystem health (EPA 2017).

Once the oil is mined it must be refined in order to use it for polyethylene. After being

transported by the pipelines to the refineries, the oil is then heated up to hundreds of degrees.

Several distinct oils result from this distillation process, including naphtha, the primary

component for plastic making. The collected naphtha needs to go through the cracking process

before being used by the plastics engineers. Cracking is the fragmentation of naphtha’s big

hydrocarbon molecules into smaller, easier processed sections. First, the crude oil is mixed with

water vapour and then heated to 800°C, then very quickly cooled down to 400°C. The tiny

molecules obtained will be used to make chains called polymers, plastic’s basic building blocks.

Refining natural gas is a process similar to refining oil. The gas is heated to 850°C which causes

the ethane molecules to separate and create a hydrogen and ethylene mix. This purified ethylene

is then used to create the future polymer solids or as we know it, polyethylene. It is important to

note that this process refers mainly to the making of Low Density Polyethene (LDPE), but the
process for producing linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) is extremely similar and has the

same environmental effects. The only difference is that LLDPE uses a low pressure system

instead of high and is copolymerized with a small amount of another monomer, typically butene,

hexene or octene. Another important note is that to create 1 ton of plastic material, 1.25 tons of

ethane are needed, and the chemical industry annually produces a little over 130,000 tons of

ethylene (PAPREC 2018). It takes a lot to keep production going. According to the US Energy

Information Administration, natural gas refineries alone use up to 881,611 barrels of fuel

annually.

Research shows that in 2011 the oil and natural gas sector emitted 225 million metric

tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, making it the second-largest major industry sector producing

greenhouse gas pollution. Refineries came in third with 182 million metric tons of emissions

(Plagakis 2013). More information on this can be found on Figure 2 in the appendix. The

information available showed that most toxic releases went into the air, and the plastics industry

contributed to 14% of the national total. The manufacturing of polyethylene in these refineries

causes the release of several signicificant toxic chemicals including trichloroethane, acetone,

methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, styrene, toluene, benzene, and trichloroethane. Other

major emissions from plastic production processes include sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides,

methanol, ethylene oxide, and volatile organic compounds. Many of these compounds find their

way into water systems as well (Ecology Center 1996).

With all the emissions being released by the production of polyethylene, it is important

that we discuss exactly how this manufacturing process contributes to a major environmental

issue like climate change. Most of it has to do with fossil fuels. The emissions increase the
atmospheric concentrations of CO2 that will linger in the air thousands of years. A lot of the

environmental impacts depend on the type of refinery that components like natural gas are being

processed at. Natural gas emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide when combusted in a new,

efficient natural gas power plant compared with emissions from a typical new coal plant (UCS

2017). Methane leaks occur from the drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its

transportation in pipelines which is noteworthy because methane is 34 times stronger than CO2

at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times stronger over 20 years, which heats up the

atmosphere and contributes to climate change (EPA 2017). Research shows that oil or petroleum

refineries left unregulated will continue to produce carbon dioxide emissions that are projected to

increase rapidly in coming years, at nearly double the predicted rate of emissions growth from

other sources. According to estimates from the Department of Energy, annual carbon emissions

from petroleum refineries will increase to more than 415 million tons by 2030 (DoE 2018). As

the demand for polyethylene products increases, the more the world will feel the impact of

climate change from increased emissions being released by refineries and the fuels they

consume.

Dyes and Inks

It's a fact of marketing that if you want people to buy your product half the battle is

presentation. This is why Ziploc makes their bags more attractive through the use of dyes and

inks. Dyes and inks that are produced for the textile industry have their own environmental cost.

This industry uses up to 9 trillion gallons of water a year. One of the main issues ecologically is

that 10-25% of textile dyes are often lost during the dyeing process and 2-20% are discharged as

aqueous effluents in different environmental components. This especially affects water

ecosystems. The discharge of dyes into bodies of water can alter the color, making it visually

unappealing. The breakdown products of these dyes are toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic to the

organisms that use these water sources because of components like benzidine, naphthalene, and

other aromatic compounds. Studies have classified wastewater produced from the dyeing process

in textile plants as the most polluting of all the industrial sectors, considering the volume

generated as well as the effluent composition. Wildlife and vegetation suffer as water quality is

degraded from these pollutants. One specific way is how dyes absorb and reflect sunlight

entering water. This diminishes photosynthetic algae which influences the food chain. Most of

these dyes escape the conventional wastewater treatment process and linger in the environment

because they have a high stability to light, temperature, water, detergent, chemicals and soap

(Kumar 2014).

Another way the environment suffers from the dye production is through air quality. The

manufacturing process of the dyes produce atmospheric emissions. It has been estimated that

gaseous emissions have been identified as the second greatest pollution problem after effluent

quality for this industry. However, researchers disagree about the amounts and types of air

pollutants that come from the dye process and say it often varies from country to country (Kumar

2014).

Inks pose a similar problem as dyes in regards to their ecological footprint, but not to the

same extent. Most of the problem comes from the heavy metals used to make them. The amount

of these metals have been reduced over the past 20 years but many, like aluminum and brass, are

still in use. The worry about these metals is the way that they can leach into groundwater and the

problems that come from inhaling them in the air. The manufacturing of printing ink results in
the potential emissions of VOCs and pigment/extender dusts to atmosphere. Fortunately, ink

manufacture is not regarded as an energy-intensive sector which helps reduce its footprint.

(EuPIA 2013).

Transportation and Distribution

There’s no point in making a product if you can’t put it on the shelves. It is hard to

calculate the exact footprint of shipping the Ziploc bags. The company does not publically

release information such as the locations of the refineries where their products are made or the

companies and methods they use to transport them. This makes it difficult to discuss how Ziploc

bags are moved and where the bags are coming from but they can be found in stores

internationally. Automatically, one thinks of the fossil fuels used and carbon emissions produced

from trucks and planes that have to reach stores all over the country and the world. In order to

give some kind of perspective since we can’t discuss the details, we look to the shipping industry

in America as a whole to get a sense of transportation's footprint. About 29% of U.S. energy

consumption in 2016 was for transporting people and goods from one place to another.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, there are 4 main resources the industry

uses: petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, residual fuel oil, and propane;

biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel; natural gas; and electricity. Exact percentages can be found

in Figure 3 in the appendix. Research also shows that the shipping industry made up 17% of

global CO2 emissions, making it a heavy influencer of climate change (EIA 2017).

The End of the Road

Now we come to the end of the bag’s life. The footprint of used storage bags has the

potential to be even worse than the manufacturing process. According to Ziploc, all of their bags
are recyclable which is the good news. However, research shows that only 11% of these bags

ever make it to recycling plants. This could be because many people don't know that these bags

are recyclable or are not willing to put in the effort to clean them and drop them off at the special

disposal bins in places like their grocery stores. It is also worth mentioning that these bags are

“downcycled” and the quality of the plastic produced from recycled bags is inferior to the

original material. These bags also can’t be put in the normal recycling bins as they can damage

and “gum up” certain machines (Umbra 2013).

So if a ziploc bag isn’t recycled that means it usually will end up in a landfill. Scientists

do not completely know how long it takes for these bags to biodegrade as they've only been

around for 50 years or so. However, based on their research, the components of the bag and

respirometry tests, they estimate it could take 200 to 1000 years! So most of these bags will sit in

the landfill for ages, while others might not even make it there and end up as litter in the

ecosystems. When they do start to degrade, the bags will break down into tiny bits,

contaminating soil and water. A lot of these bags end up in the oceans as well, and the small

plastic particles can pose threats to marine life and contaminate the food web. (Green Talk

2014).

From beginning to end these Ziploc storage bags leave a footprint behind at every step.

Who uses it and how much?

Ziploc bags are a popular subset of the worldwide plastics industry. According to

Anderson (2016), “we use over 380 billion plastic bags and wraps yearly, requiring 12 million
barrels of oil to create”. By converting these values we find that it takes 0.001326 gallons of oil

to make a plastic bag (Equation 1).

There are no specific statistics on the amount of oil needed to make Ziploc bags or even

resealable plastic bags. However, we will make an assumption that the oil amounts are similar as

they are both made out of polyethylene, although different types of polyethylene (High density

and low density). A report made by Statista (2018) shows the amount of plastic sandwich bags

used within 7 days from 2011 and 2017. 70 million people use between 3 to 5 of these plastic

bags a week. There is a significant amount of people that use more than 6 plastic bags a week but

for the purposes of a conservative estimate, we will focus on 5 bags per week. This is also the

average number of sandwich bags used weekly per person in Rebecca’s household. After making

simple calculations we find that the 70.31 million of individuals (5 bags a week) use a total of

18.28 billion plastic sandwich bags totaling to a total of 24.24 million gallons of oil a year. If we

break this group down to a single person, they use 260 plastic bags a year approximating to

0.34476 gallons of oil.

This is quite the conservative estimate when we take in mind that there were a total of

11.91 million people in 2017 that use 21 or more plastic sandwich bags a week. This high use of

oil and associated emissions is compounded by the fact that only 11% of these bags are recycled

(Umbra, 2013).

We are the Problem and the Solution

These hard statistics may cause the reader to have a pessimistic view on Ziploc bags and

their contribution to chemical and physical pollution. However, there is a bright future ahead as
awareness of plastics and their detrimental effects on the environment come into light. One

simple concept that has gained popularity is the washing of ziploc bags to allow for reuse. The

reuse of ziploc bags can conserve additional resources necessary to produce a new bag.

However, it can takes 4 times as much water to clean a plastic bag as it does to make a new one

and this option may not be viable for especially greasy foods (Burke, 2017).

The best solution often comes from the manufacturer. Ziploc has gone through an effort

to become more environmentally aware by introducing new eco-friendly products and practices.

Ziploc Evolve bags use 25% less plastic (36% less plastic in the quart size, 32% less in the

gallon) and are made with 50% renewable wind energy (Motavalli, 2010). Ziploc has also

introduced compostable food scrap bags. These bags contain compostable materials, which

reduce landfill waste and can create usable bio mass when composted in a commercial or

municipal composting center that accepts food scraps (Johnson, 2018). This is a very specialized

use for this bag and most communities lack commercial or municipal composting centers.

Nonetheless, S.C Johnson’s attempt to greenify their products gives hope for a brighter and more

sustainable future. In the end, consumers have to power the push for change. Manufacturers will

keep producing what the market demands. Therefore, it is up to the consumers to educate

themselves and demand more sustainable products while reducing their use of non-sustainable

products.
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 Appendix
Figure 1: First patent of a plastic zipper design

Figure 2: Rankings of industries based on amount of CO2 emissions

Figure 3: Breakdown of the energy sources used by the Transportation Industry

Figure 4: U.S. population: Amount of plastic sandwich bags used within 7 days from 2011
to 2017

Equation 1: Gallons of Oil per Plastic Bag

12, 000, 000 barrels of oil ÷ 380, 000, 000, 000 plastic bags = .0000315789 barrels of oil x 42 gallons of oil = .001326 gallons of oil per plastic bag