Apple filed its 'Bag' patent in March
U.S. Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not satisfied with their strong presence in computer, telecommunications and music markets. The tech company is taking a step back from all the technology to make a rather different product: eco-friendly paper bags.
The company designed a new model for the retail shopping bag and is trying to register it simply as “Bag.” The US Patent & Trademark Office recently released the patent document Apple filed in March. The record reveals it is made with at least 60 percent recycled materials.
Apple sustains the “Bag” allows to include a greater percentage of recycled material in its construction than other similar products, so it should reduce the environmental impact of the mass production and disposal of regular paper bags.
What is going to be different about Apple’s paper bag?
U.S. laws require that retail store bags have around 40 to 50 percent recycled paper -the number varies in each state. The Bag from Apple will push the proportion of post-consumer waste even further.
In the patent, the company outlines why their kit is superior to others. The application for the “Bag” summarizes as follows:”A paper bag is disclosed. The paper bag may include a bag container formed of white solid bleached sulfate paper with at least 60 % post-consumer content.”
The eco-friendly “Bag,” however, will maintain the classical style of their stores’ bags: a white bag made of bleached sulfate paper with the gray logo of the Silicon Valley giant front and center. In that regard, the company assures their new design provides a “sophisticated fit and finish” compared to the “rough and dull fit and finish” of craft paper bags.
Apple will also reinforce the materials to make it sturdier. The designers assure they can strengthen the weak points with stronger folded paper to keep it from tearing apart. The problem of creating useful paper bags is that recycled materials often form weak containers, but Apple believes they have solved this issue.
Apple hands out thousands of bags each day to deliver their products to their clients, so their eco-friendly approach could make a difference.
Source: Cnet