It is a known fact that plastic bags are a huge problem when it comes to waste removal. Why? Because of the significant environmental problems they create. Consumers of almost all the Western countries (including residents throughout Sydney and Australia) are gradually shifting to safer and more eco-friendly alternatives. One of the best alternatives to plastic bags is the traditional jute bag. Jute bags are eco-friendly brown looking bags, made from plant fibres – similar to hessian.

Jute bags are made of the coarse threads that are spun from jute fibre, which is quite cheap. Unfortunately the jute industry started declining in the 1980’s after the advent of the synthetic fibre. Now, since Western customers are shunning plastic bags, the jute industry is starting to take off again. This is great for the environment, and waste removal since eco bags are much safer to dispose of.

In 2010, many Asian countries saw a phenomenal increase in the export of jute. There was a 70 per cent increase in exports of jute goods in 2010 alone! Jute fiber was the second largest export item of the country in 2010, next only to garments. Millions of eco-friendly jute bags are being exported to Western nations, with many being used in place of plastic bags, and this is helping greatly with the problems that plastic rubbish bags usually create when it comes both to the environment and also waste disposal in general. But, these foreign nations are highly quality-conscious and therefore, the jute industry is making sure to offer them the finest bags made of high-quality jute fiber. Not only Western nations are making the move to eco bags, even Japan is fast shifting to jute bags instead of plastic bags and thus also benefiting environmentally with respect to the disposal of waste.

If you study the features of jute cloth, that is also sometimes known as hessian in Europe and burlap in North America, it is both eco-friendly and bio-degradable, and thus easily disposed of when considering rubbish removal. Even the production process of jute cloth is environment-friendly. If you compare jute cloth with synthetic cloth, jute cloth has more versatility than its synthetic counterpart. It is cheaper also. With these positive features, jute cloth has become the natural choice for many countries. For this reason, jute bags are a highly effective, and a popular alternative to plastic bags, which are a nightmare for companies in the waste removal industry.

Bangladesh was among the first countries to ban plastic bags in the year 2002. Perhaps, this was not only due to the fact that waste removal became a problem with all the plastic bags, but also because they had an excellent alternative in jute bags. China also banned plastic rubbish/shopping in 2008 and now, the State of California has joined the bandwagon by banning plastic bags in pharmacies, groceries and convenience stores. The Indian government is also trying to ban plastic bags completely but they have limitations due to the federalised system of governance. But, a few states and cities of India have already banned plastic bags because rubbish removal is a major problem in India. In Europe, shops that use plastic bags are often heavily penalised. For every plastic bag used a levy is often imposed.

There are about four million farmers who cultivate and produce jute in Bangladesh and the latest trend is great news for them. Since the demand for the eco-friendly jute bag is likely to increase exponentially in the coming years, Bangladesh jute industries are expanding their work force. For the last six years, there has been an increased focus on improvement of infrastructure also to facilitate growth of this industry.