"Made in UAE" Paper Bag

[storewanderer]

Received a "Made in UAE" paper bag last night. Medium size brown (looked more tan, like mud color) size lunch style paper bag. Actually received two of them as the bag had no durability and was so synthetic and odd feeling it didn't even seem like a real paper bag; they automatically double bagged my small purchase (I didn't even want or need any bag at all). I commented on the bag and they commented back to me if they try to staple the bags closed the bags just tear half of the time at the point where the staple goes in. This was at CVS.

It is printed on the back it has "40% PCC" and "Made in UAE."

I wonder how UAE regulates post consumer content and what US states with laws requiring 40% PCC in certain retailer's paper bags (such as California) will be doing to ensure this is actually a true claim on bags made in UAE.

So I guess now we will be seeing paper bags from United Arab Emirates in US Stores since the US cannot produce enough paper bags to meet demand created by these seriously misguided politicians who ban plastic bags. Then again at least UAE is being deforested to make these paper bags (if they are even made out of real wood/pulp which I am not so sure of) instead of the US so maybe the US environmentalists would consider this a win- as long as it isn't the US forests being destroyed.

Makes you wonder who is supporting these politicians who push to "ban US made plastic bags" when the replacement paper bags or reusable bags are coming from places like China and United Arab Emirates.

Also never saw a paper bag in a US retailer that wasn't "Made in the USA" until these bag regulations started in many states. NY was the tipping point when the China, Vietnam, etc. paper bags started showing up.

[Alpha8472]

Shipping bags from overseas uses oil. Plastic bags in the USA were made from oil. So paper bags from other countries use more oil than the plastic bags made here. In any case, there is more pollution from paper bags made overseas. The pollution is just going into the air instead of the ocean or landfill.

[storewanderer]

Shipping bags from overseas uses oil. Plastic bags in the USA were made from oil. So paper bags from other countries use more oil than the plastic bags made here. In any case, there is more pollution from paper bags made overseas. The pollution is just going into the air instead of the ocean or landfill.

These bags specifically this UAE one, Vietnam one, and China one, are noticeably "lighter" paper than the paper bags I am used to in the US. They do not hold much of anything and rip/tear almost immediately. I am not sure what they do different in their process- these bags are lighter and obviously cheaper paper bags. They serve no purpose as they rip so easily.

Also a number of US plastic bags were made using natural gas which is supposedly cleaner burning.

These imported paper bags from very far away- who knows.

I also wonder if the paper bags getting transited all the way around the world for months to get here in cold damp cargo ships is somehow messing up their durability.

[Alpha8472]

I have seen pharmacy paper bags from all over the world. My pharmacy has changed manufacturers many times. There are bags from China, Germany, etc. They have gotten thinner and flimsier than ever in recent months. They are practically useless and tear all the time. They are shrinking in size as well. There used to be high quality thick white paper bags, but they are all brown paper now.

Unless paper prices come down, I doubt high quality USA made paper bags will ever come back.

The bags definitely show humidity damage since they are all warped and are no longer flat.

[BillyGr]

Also never saw a paper bag in a US retailer that wasn't "Made in the USA" until these bag regulations started in many states. NY was the tipping point when the China, Vietnam, etc. paper bags started showing up.

And those regulations followed after many places started also requiring the use of paper bags for lawn wastes (brush, grass etc.), which also added to the volume of paper bags needing to be made.

I have seen pharmacy paper bags from all over the world. My pharmacy has changed manufacturers many times. There are bags from China, Germany, etc. They have gotten thinner and flimsier than ever in recent months. They are practically useless and tear all the time. They are shrinking in size as well. There used to be high quality thick white paper bags, but they are all brown paper now.

Seems our pharmacy has the white ones most of the time, but either are at least handy when one is having a yard sale, to wrap items that are breakable

[storewanderer]

I have seen pharmacy paper bags from all over the world. My pharmacy has changed manufacturers many times. There are bags from China, Germany, etc. They have gotten thinner and flimsier than ever in recent months. They are practically useless and tear all the time. They are shrinking in size as well. There used to be high quality thick white paper bags, but they are all brown paper now.

Unless paper prices come down, I doubt high quality USA made paper bags will ever come back.

The bags definitely show humidity damage since they are all warped and are no longer flat.

These are normal paper bags for front end or larger sized order pharmacy use. Like a big lunch or fast food bag. They're not the little small ones that are usually white and specifically for a script bottle.

I wonder if humidity in transit is a problem. There is probably a good reason these bags were not being imported before.

[Alpha8472]

About 10 percent of cargo transported by boat is damaged by humidity. It is a known issue. The stuff you see is the stuff that wasn't damaged. The 10 percent must really be bad to be thrown away.

[BillyGr]

I have seen pharmacy paper bags from all over the world. My pharmacy has changed manufacturers many times. There are bags from China, Germany, etc. They have gotten thinner and flimsier than ever in recent months. They are practically useless and tear all the time. They are shrinking in size as well. There used to be high quality thick white paper bags, but they are all brown paper now.

Unless paper prices come down, I doubt high quality USA made paper bags will ever come back.

The bags definitely show humidity damage since they are all warped and are no longer flat.

These are normal paper bags for front end or larger sized order pharmacy use. Like a big lunch or fast food bag. They're not the little small ones that are usually white and specifically for a script bottle.

I wonder if humidity in transit is a problem. There is probably a good reason these bags were not being imported before.

I know I have at least some of those as well (still from the pharmacy, but as you say for larger items and more like a lunch bag size) in the white version. Not sure I have gotten any in the last few months, though, but I think I have seen people getting them still in white. Maybe it just depends on the chain (in this case a supermarket pharmacy)