• Paper carrier bags are low cost.
• Paper carrier bags come with a stylish twisted paper cord handle which makes it easy to carry without cutting into your hand.
• Paper carrier bags come in brown and white.
• Brown paper bags are cheap.
• White paper bags give a professional image.
• Paper bags are also recyclable and degradable unlike plastic bags.
• Paper bags are made from strong kraft paper.
• Paper carrier bags can also be printed on with logos on one or both sides.

Paper types used in luxury carrier bags

• Kraft paper - A high quality paper in terms of strength, made from paper pulp that has long individual fibres which give a resistance to tearing.
• Art card - A highly processed pulp which has shorter fibres than kraft, but the paper has more bulk to compensate and is more economical than kraft.
• Coated paper - Papers have a coating on the surface to make them smoother. Paper can be coated on one side or two. Kraft is usually not coated and has a more natural finish than coated art.

Paper weight

• The weight of paper or card in grammes per square meter.
• A 130gsm kraft paper with its long fibre content could well have more tear resistance than a 157gsm art.

Twist handle paper carrier bags

• Made from a single material - paper, which is widely collected for recycling, is compostable and biodegradable.
• The paper is a top quality ribbed glazed white kraft.
• Kraft is a very strong paper: puncture and tear resistant.
• Ribbed paper has an attractive light vertical watermark in the paper.
• Glazed paper has a slight sheen.

SOS Twist bags

• "SOS" stands for "Self Opening Satchel".
• A satchel is a type of bag with a side gusset.
• "Self opening" refers to the fact that they do open easily, possible automatically on a production line and they stay put ready for filling.

Types of plastic for carrier bags

• LDPE: "low density polyethylene". It's recognisable by the soft feel of the polythene, and its stretchiness. LDPE is excellent for carrier bags because of its stretch and resistance to puncturing and tearing.
• HDPE: "high density polyethylene". It has a more crinkly, paper-like feel than LDPE. It's immensely strong, but tends to give way without warning.
• LDPE/HDPE "frosted". This popular plastic material is a mixture of HDPE and LDPE: the stretchiness of LDPE, and the texture and toughness of HDPE. The "frosted" semi translucent "look" is the natural colour of the material, without any additional pigment added.
• Natural Polythene. This is mineral oil based polythene made with no additives and is recyclable and combustible with no toxicity.
• Degradable Polythene This mineral oil based polythene has an additive to accelerate fragmentation and degradation over a specified period.

Carrier bag sizes

• The first dimension is the width across the horizontal face of the bag.
• The second is the dimension of the base - if the bag opens out to form a base.
• The third is the height, excluding the handle.