IMPACTS OF NON-DEGRADABLE PLASTIC BAGS ON

ENVIRONMENT: REMEDIATIONS THROUGH

LEGISLATION AND EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT
MECHANISM
 Introduction

• Word “Plastic” is derived from the words plasticus (Latin for capable of
moulding)

• We use 5 trillion plastic bags… per year!

• Less than 1 percent are recycled
• 12 minutes of use, 1000 years of pollution
 Plastic Bags in Pakistan

• More than 3.3 million tonnes of plastic are wasted each year in Pakistan

• 55 billion plastic bags are used annually in Pakistan and their usage is

increasing by 15% annually (2019).

• Pakistan has the highest percentage of mismanaged plastic in South Asia

 Impacts on Environment

• An estimated 100,000 marine mammals and up to 1 million sea birds die every year due to
plastic  marine litter.

• Toxicity: Major chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics are highly toxic
• Health Impacts: Neurotoxins, Carcinogens and hormone-disruptive chemicals
• Economic Impacts: $4 billion/year cost passed onto consumers
• SWM Impacts: Blockage of drainage system, Aesthetic pollution, Litter
• Agricultural Impacts: Loss of soil fertility, Reduced Crop production
 Ireland
• 2.3 Billion plastic bags annually in 1999
• 60% of plastic bags eventually ends up as litter
• Tourism is the second largest industry of Ireland and after successful awareness campaigns, the
people of Ireland started looking at PlasTax as a positive initiative.
• the climatic condition such as winds has contributed alot as lightweight plastic bags usually entangle
in the trees and hedgerows
• Ireland started considering imposing of fines/taxes on the use of plastic bags in 1994 but it came into
the form of legislation in 2002 as “PlastTax”
• PlasTax became the first of its kind in the world and it caused reduction of plastic bag usage by 90%.
 United States of America
• USA ranks 4th in the countries with highest ecological footprints
• Plastic industry is the united states’ 3rd largest manufacturing industry with more than a million of
employees and revenue of US $ 379 Billion
• Despite of all the resistance from industries and even the public, many municipalities have legislation
limiting the use of plastic bags particularly in Fairfax, Malibu, Oakland and California.
• Many of these states went under litigation by association and organizations supported by plastic
industry. These strategies are considered as the attempt by industries to prevent a national level
legislation on the issue.
• San Francisco, first state to completely ban all non-degradable plastic bags, made exemption for small
business holders and applied the ban on retailers with sales of above 2 million US dollars annually.
 Bangladesh
• Bangladesh has been the leading country in anti-plastic campaign as it began in the early 1990s
• IIn 1993, MOEF started to take actions to ban the production and consumption of plastic bags.
These efforts led to formulation of Bangladesh Environment act in 1995 which was later on
reviewed in 2002
• the availability of raw jute has encouraged the policy makers to ban plastic bags and enhance the
jute industry by using jute bags as alternative
• In 1998, Dhaka witnessed flash floods and later the reason was found to be clogged sewerage
drains due to presence of plastic bags
• This law banned the use of plastic bags in the capital city which later on was applied nationwide.
 Environmental laws in Pakistan
• The most prestigious organizations for the Pakistani environment are the Pakistan Environment
Agency and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council, which was established in 1983
• Sindh came forward by banning production, sale, purchase, and use of black polyethylene bags
from 26 August 1994
• EPA-Balochistan passed an ordinance called The Balochistan Prohibition on Use and Sale of
Polythene bags Ordinance, 2001 which banned all coloured plastic bags from being produced, used
and sold.
 Department of Environmental Protection (EPD of
the Punjab province). Ordinance 2002
• This ordinance prohibits the use of polythene bags and imposes penalties on the use of polythene
bags.
• The ordinance also encourages the use of environmentally friendly waste bags and breaks down in
a much shorter time than plastic bags.
• the use of any polythene bag (black or otherwise) of less than fifteen microns in thickness is
prohibited and its use, manufacture or import is prohibited
• Any person who violates this Ordinance shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three
months or a fine of Rs. 50,000
 Plastic Free Initiative, Islamabad
• In April 2019, government brought a radical change in implementation of environmental laws
related plastic bags.
• A ban on usage of disposable plastic bags in Islamabad and surrounding areas, including Saidpur
was instituted by Pak-EPA
• Anyone using a plastic bag will be fined $70, which is almost equal to a monthly income of an
average citizen
• Fines will be increased for manufactures and distributors.
• these regulations as pilot project, where if they worked in the capital city, these will be further
replicated in all provinces of Pakistan.
 Implementation Mechanisms
• Approaches to deal with Plastic bags
• monetary charges are applied on consumption of bags
• monetary charges are applied on carryout bags but ban on thin plastic
bags
• ban on thin plastic bags only.
 Awareness Campaigns
• Changing priorities and lifestyle
• Use of formal and informal ways to educate the coming generations
• Educating school children abt detrimental effects of plastic bags
• Inclusion of environment friendly measures in curriculum
• increasing demand of plastic free products will motivate industries to come up with alternatives
and bring innovation in this field particularly
 Behavioral Change
• Use of technological strategies such as models to bring positive change in
behaviors of community
• Experiencing an environmental concern firsthand has been proven to be
effective in making participants more environment friendly.
• Informational messages
• Motivational strategies
• Monetary incentives
• Social Acknowledgments
 Behavioral and Policy Spillover effect
• A positive spillover effect occurs when performing one environmental behavior increases the
chance of an individual performing the same or new pro-environmental behavior again over a
period of time.
• Research studies showed that plastic bans encouraged more environment friendly activities in the
community such as cleanliness, recycling and organic shopping.
• Such policies also pave way for the governments to implement further environment-oriented
policies with ease
 Recommendations
• The countries with strong administrative systems have been successful in curtailing the
consumption however, countries with strong industrial influences may cannot implement the laws
effectively.
• While opting for a particular strategy or making laws one must consider the socio-economic
conditions of the country.
• At global level, there is need to have consensus among the developed and developing countries to
limit the use of plastic bags.
 Recommendations
• Pakistan particularly lack the substantial solid waste management facilities. To reduce the
environmental impacts of plastic bags, proper collection, storage and disposal is mandatory. There
is dire need to exceed the access of management practices in urban and rural areas
• The problem with reducing plastic bag consumption is that they are widespread, economical and
handy. Lack of alternatives make them even more desirable for consumers.
• The recycling culture needs to be adopted by the society immediately otherwise we may left with
no land to dispose plastic debris.
• Sustainable solid waste management needs to be ensured in country through public participation,
public awareness, legislative measures, efficient implementation and enforcement and
infrastructure development.
 References
• Charles Moore, 2020. Plastic Pollution. https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic-pollution
• Claire le Guern, 2019. WHEN THE MERMAIDS CRY: THE GREAT PLASTIC TIDE.
https://plastic-pollution.org/
• Laura Parker, 2019. The world's plastic pollution crisis explained.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/plastic-pollution/
• Knoblauch, D., Mederake, L. and Stein, U., 2018. Developing countries in the lead—what drives the diffusion
of plastic bag policies?. Sustainability, 10(6), p.1994.
• Jia, L., Evans, S. and van der Linden, S., 2019. Motivating actions to mitigate plastic pollution. Nature
communications, 10(1), pp.1-3.
• Abbott, J.K. and Sumaila, U.R., 2019. Reducing marine plastic pollution: policy insights from economics.
Review of environmental economics and policy, 13(2), pp.327-336.
Thank You