Stockholm is preparing for a major shift in how waste is managed. By January 1, 2027, households will be able to sort packaging waste directly at their property. Plastic, paper, metal, and glass will be collected closer to home instead of being taken to recycling stations.
It’s an important step toward a more circular society, and a system that makes it easier for people to sort correctly. But it also raises a key question: should we really be using plastic bags to sort out plastic?
More sorting can mean more plastic bags
When sorting moves closer to home, it changes how households and businesses handle waste in everyday life. Instead of collecting everything in one bin, people will separate packaging into multiple streams — such as plastic, paper, metal, and glass.
In practice, that often means each stream is gathered in its own bag before it’s emptied into the right container. And many people default to what’s already available: conventional plastic bags they have at home or buy in stores.
This happens for simple, practical reasons:
- Hygiene and convenience: it’s easier (and cleaner) to collect packaging in a bag before taking it out.
- Transport: bags make it easier to carry sorted waste to shared bins.
- Habit: plastic bags have long been the go-to solution for collecting household waste.
- More bins at the property: when more waste types are separated, people often use one bag per stream.
The result can be that more bags are used as part of the sorting process. And one challenge is that many of these bags are made from fossil-based plastic. Over time, they can break down and leave microplastics behind in the environment.
If we build a more advanced sorting system while increasing the amount of fossil plastic used in the process itself, we risk creating a new problem while trying to solve another.
We don’t need to create more plastic to sort plastic.
An alternative without microplastics
Today, there are solutions that make it possible to handle waste without contributing to microplastic pollution. One example is Grale’s Green Bag, a waste bag developed to be completely free from fossil plastic.
The bag is made from renewable resources such as agricultural residues, forestry side streams, non-edible plants, and wood fibre. It is biodegradable and certified for home composting.
Unlike conventional plastic bags, which either never fully break down or can take hundreds of years, Grale’s material breaks down and disappears without leaving microplastics behind. The breathable material also allows moisture to evaporate, helping waste dry out faster, reducing odours and improving the handling of organic waste.
A smarter step in the transition
As Stockholm builds a more accessible recycling system, there’s an opportunity to go one step further. If we also choose materials that do not leave microplastics behind, we can create a waste system that is more sustainable from start to finish.
Sorting more is an important step forward.
Doing it without fossil plastic is the next one.
