Monthly Archives: October 2025

Sustainability and packaging increasingly go hand in hand. Big bags, made mainly of polypropylene (PP), offer interesting opportunities from an environmental perspective, provided they are properly managed throughout their life cycle.

The first theme is reuse. Some big bags are designed as single-use, others as multi-use, with higher safety factors and stronger fabrics. When hygienic and safety conditions allow (i.e., when the product contained is not hazardous or contaminating), reusing big bags for multiple cycles significantly reduces the number of packages produced and disposed of. However, it is essential to establish clear procedures for inspection, cleaning , and discarding so that safety is not compromised.

The second issue is recyclability. Polypropylene is a thermoplastic plastic that is fully recyclable. At the end of its life, big bags can be collected, sorted, shredded, and fed back into processing circuits as a secondary raw material. The presence of liners, printing , or accessories in other materials requires a bit more management, but does not prevent recycling if organized properly.

To maximize recovery, it is useful:

• Separate “clean” big bags from contaminated ones at the source;
• compacting or baling the bags to optimize transport to recycling centers;
• Collaborate with operators specializing in industrial PP recovery.

On the regulatory front, companies are increasingly required to demonstrate commitment to reducing environmental impacts, including through packaging. Designing lighter yet high-performance big bags, reducing secondary packaging, and encouraging reuse and recycling are concrete levers for improving sustainability indicators.

Sebino Pack can support clients in choosing more sustainable solutions (e.g., optimized fabrics, reuse projects, monomaterial solutions that are easier to recycle), while also sharing best practices that have already been tested in other contexts.

In building and construction, big bags are now an indispensable tool. They are used for sand, gravel, and powdered cement, but also for rubble, excavated earth, and demolition waste. The challenge is to combine robustness, practicality and compliance with waste management regulations .

For “clean” aggregates (sand, gravel, cement, stone materials) standard high-capacity big bags with open tops to facilitate loading with shovels or belts are often sufficient. Resistance to abrasion and outdoor conditions is important in these cases: anti-UV treatments and appropriately weighted fabrics enable the big bag to withstand prolonged outdoor storage.

For mixed rubble and demolition waste, in addition to strength, the practicality of loading and unloading matters a lot: big bags with filling skirts or with “open and close” structures make it possible to contain the material without leakage and to empty it in a controlled manner at the landfill or recovery facility. In urban construction site situations, reducing dust and spills is also an image issue to the client and residents.

When handling special waste (containing asbestos, paints, solvents, hazardous materials), UN-approved big bags and ADR specifications come into play. In these cases, dedicated big bags must be used, with hazard symbology, legible labeling and data sheets readily available for inspection.

Another critical issue is safe handling: intact slots, proper ways of lifting with cranes or trolleys, prohibition of dragging bags on the ground, visual checks before each use. Training site managers and operators on these issues dramatically reduces the risk of accidents.

Sebino Pack can provide the construction company with a set of differentiated solutions for the most common uses (aggregates, rubble, special waste), standardizing formats to simplify ordering and management on different construction sites.

In many industrial processes, the filling and emptying of big bags generates electrostatic charges. If flammable dusts or vapors are present in the environment, these charges can trigger an explosion. Therefore, anti-static or conductive big bags, classified as type B, C or D according to the industry standards.

In a nutshell:

• Type A: standard big bag, no specific protection from electrostatic charge, only usable in environments without explosive atmosphere.
• Type B: limit the breakdown voltage of the fabric to reduce the risk of very energetic discharges, but do not dissipate charges in a controlled manner.
• Type C: conductive big bags, equipped with groundable conductive yarns. They dissipate charges by mandatory grounding.
• Type D: “self-dissipating” antistatic big bags, designed to disperse charges without the need for grounding when used properly.

The choice of the correct type depends on three factors: nature of the product contained (flammable or not), presence of flammable vapors/gases in the environment, and characteristics of the explosive atmosphere (ATEX zones). In industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, paints, pigments or very fine flours, the use of antistatic big bags is often a must to ensure safety.

In addition to the bag, procedure is key: grounding type C big bags, regularly checking grounding efficiency, avoiding using damaged or visibly worn big bags, and training operators on hazards and procedures. A wrong type or improperly used big bag negates safety benefits.

Sebino Pack can help the HSE department and production manager map critical process points, identify products and risk areas , and propose static-protective packaging solutions in line with regulations and company ATEX guidelines.