In a family chat about China's bag ban, my parents all of the sudden asked me: "Who invented plastic bags? Did he/she have any idea that plastic bags would turn out to be such a controversy?" I guess they assume that I must be a plastics expert since I work for Plastics News. Too bad, I didn't have a clue.
I found some relevant info from the Internet but can't verify the validity. I asked around in the office and still don't have an affirmative answer.I am going to call up some real experts to find out more. In the mean time, can anybody shed some light on this interesting question?SEARCH
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Who invented plastic bags?
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COMMENTS (5)
Doron Chertkow:
I can't say I know who invented plastic bags, but the inventor certainly didn't believe the product would be controversial. Plastic bags were introduced in the United States in 1977 under the premise that the manufacturing process of paper bags were killing trees, wrecking forests, and destroying habitats for wild animals. Plastic bags were seen, at the time, as a far superior environmental alternative to paper bags. Oh how have things changed since...
Jimcairns:
Having been involved with the plastics and rubber industry for over 50 years
You might ask who invented the paper bag!?
no doubt you have heard the expression of
Invent a better mouse trap and they will beat a route to your door .
At first the efforts to develop the plastic bag competition fro the no handle kraft bag focussed on making a stiff bag that would stand up on it's own like the old kraft bag -
then with a little bit of inventiveness and wow
we had to days thick/ thin pull bags and T shirt bags - readily dispensed at the check out stand
Mostly done by thinking outside the box and development of suitable plastic Resins
Jim Cairns EPAS
wellplas:
Good question
Maybe the Germans invented the film machine.
And I think it must be the most fashionable bag in 1950:
http://www.wellplas.com/img/imghd.jpg
It'd be better to mark: " I'm a real Plastic Bag!"
:)
Chris Smith:
Jim Cairns makes a good point when he says "You might ask who invented the paper bag". There are patent references to plastics bags of one type or another going back into the late 1930s.
However, the focus of media attention today is focused on the vest style disposable carrier bag and here we have a definitive answer.
The disposable carrier bag was invented by Sten Gustaf Thulin, who was granted a US patent in 1965. Thulin was working for a Swedish company at the time - Aktiebolaget Celloplast of Norrkoping.
Celloplast did very well out of its monopoly position but the company went into decline once the patents expired. However, plastics bag - but not carrier bag - production continues at Miljosack at Norrkoping, which is a direct descendant of Celloplast.
At European Plastics News we have no qualms about including the vest carrier bag in our Design Landmark series of great plastics inventions.
Nina:
Let's thank Chris Smith, Editor and Conference Manager of PN's sister publication European Plastics News in London, for sharing the hard-sought answer! Chris has spent months researching on the subject, gone through a great deal of patent searching, and is still trying to dig deeper on the inventor Sten Gustaf Thulin. Also, thanks everyone for weighing in!