Britannist

I already have.

Recycled paper bags still come originally from trees grown specially to make paper (large amounts of land being used to grow trees). Recycled plastic bags come originally from a By-product produced at petrol plants which would otherwise go to waste. The production of plastic bags does not involve large areas of land (unlike paper bags where large forests of trees covering huge areas have to be planted to produce the paper).

Recycled plastic bags are cheaper to produce than recycled paper bags and plastic bags survive getting wet - many paper bags do not. An important point for those carrying a heavy load of shopping home. What use is a soggy paper shopping bag - recycled paper or not?

Economically and environmentally plastic bag or recylced plastic bag production is better than paper bag or recycled paper bag production.