Taking-home goods from supermarket: the role of biodegradable carrier bags Francesco Razza 1 , Sandra Zaccheo 1 , Francesco Degli Innocenti 2 * 1 Novamont S.p.A., P.le Donegani, 4 05100 Terni, Italy 2 Novamont S.p.A., Via Fauser 8 28100 Novara, Italy *fdi@novamont.com Abstract Carrier bags are regarded with growing concern. More and more, biodegradable and compostable (B&C) bags are offered together with long life reusable bags. After primary use (take-home goods) B&C bags can be used as "multi-purpose" waste bags that can be used both for residual waste and bio-waste (e.g. kitchen waste). The use of B&C bags allows the creation of a homogeneous waste, where both the content (bio-waste) and the container (the B&C bag) share the same ‘degradability’ property. This, in turn, improves recyclability i.e. the quantity and quality of compost, whose marketability is improved by the absence of residual plastics and other contaminants. A Carbon Footprint (CF) analysis based on such scenarios suggests that GHG emissions caused by B&C carrier bags are insignificant. The “cradle to grave” CF ranges from 1.8 to 2.0 kg CO 2 eq. for every 100 B&C bags used.