Impacts of Plastic Bags on the Environment - Example

Introduction Environment conservation has become a contentious issue in the recent. The result has been greater advocacy from different quarters for the need to create a sustainable environment, which is free of all kinds of pollution. Plastic bags have, thus been cited (European Plastics Industry 2013) as one of the major causes of environmental degradation because most of them are non-biodegrade and thus have an ability to remain on the ground for a long time. Thus, because of their chemical compositions they have become a significant threat to the because of the adverse impact that they have on the environment. The essay examines the impact that plastic bags have on the environment, their life cycle, effects and how sustainable development can be achieved. Plastic bags are environmentally unfriendly and are one of the major impediments that prevented realization of sustainable development. Sustainable Development This concept can be defined in many ways but it is generally a development that aims at balancing several needs against environmental awareness, as well as the limitations the society experience economically and socially (Corina 2013, p. 450). It is also defined as the development that meets today’s needs without making bad the ability of future generations to meet their. This concept contains two important elements i.e. the concept of needs and the idea of limitations. Can the world balance between the needs indefinitely? This is the question pursued in sustainable development. Its origin is not well known, but it is believed that this concept rose from the Brundtland Commission in the year 1987. This concept was contained in the report titled Our Common Future. The definition mostly fronted for this term is derived from this report. In overall, it is creating the best for ourselves today as well as for the future generations. Many countries further their goals without much thought on the future impacts these efforts may result in the environment. Governments pursuing environmental awareness should drive the agenda of social and economic wellbeing as well as having environment in their thoughts. For this reason, many fields have emerged in various areas of study e.g. green supply chain management. This concept focuses more on the following areas of the economy i.e. agriculture-how can countries achieve sustainable food production? How can countries promote environmentally friendly methods for farmers in order to produce without damaging natural systems? Another area of focus was ecology-i.e. how can countries achieve sustainable human settlement? Energy is another domain of sustainable development where possibilities of achieving sustainable sources of energy that are not harmful to the environment (European Plastics Industry 2013). Lastly the concept addresses the environment with the aim of creating a sustainable in consumption and use of natural resources. To elaborate more this concept, this paper will make use of green supply chain management practices (Corina 2013, p. 451). These practices have been identified as green purchasing, eco design, green manufacturing, green distribution and reverse logistics. Green purchasing is purchasing with the environment at the back of the mind. This ensures that buyers buy items that are not harmful to the environment. For instance, buyers can train themselves to buy paper bags since they are less harmful to use both for people’s health and that of the environment. Eco-Design, on the other hand, involves designing and producing items that are environmentally friendly. This ensures that manufactures are not indulging in practices that undermine the efforts to keep the environment clean. Because of this pressure, manufacturers have gone to lengths of being certified by the International Standards Organisation. Green manufacturing on the other side aims at ensuring that the manufacturing processes adopted by various processing and manufacturing industries are environmentally friendly i.e. these processes reduce waste emission to the environment. Green distribution, on the other hand, is the integration of environmental conservation in the distribution activities such as green packaging, green fuels, etc. Reverse logistics are all the processes that retrieve an item or product from the end user back to the producer. Big companies in the world use such strategies. A good example is the Coca-Cola Company that employs this in retrieving bottles from the end user. Another green practice is waste management. All industries in the world produce tons of waste into the environment nut if these wastes are well managed, the effect on the environment can be reduced to zero. Economic Growth, Consumption, and Sustainability Economic growth can be defined as the increase in the value of the market i.e. goods and services often measured by the gross domestic product. Consumption, on the other hand, is the level of goods and services used up in any given economy. The interaction of these two is what leads to sustainability or unsustainability. If the economy consumes more than it can produce, then the environment is overstretched. It has been observed that the rural world has resources overexploited yet there is sombre poverty. Sustainable development should therefore focus on making the lives in the rural areas better by developing infrastructure that will spur growth in the economy. Opening up of the rural will lead to more food production thereby balancing the demand and supply continually in a manner that brings sustainability. Apart from achieving sustainability, this will spur economic development or growth. The Role of Efficiency in Observing Sustainability An economy that operates efficiently achieves sustainability in the end. This is because efficient systems reduce waste in the environment and aims at creating a balanced system where outputs and inputs are balancing all the time. Such systems do not put stress on the environment. Countries, for example, can come up with a sustainable way of packaging to reduce the impacts to the environment. If all the systems, therefore, function efficiently, then it can be assumed that environmental conservation is done. Impact of Plastic Bags The world cannot underestimate the impact of plastic bags on the environment today. The world produces over 1 trillion plastic bags every year to meet the growing demand for this product. Take an example of, China a country that has a gigantic 1.3 billion people (European Plastics Industry 2013). It is estimated that 1 million plastic bag are used every minute around the world. Plastic bags can be equated to a pandemic that is glaring the world today. This problem is not going away any soon considering the fact that plastic bags are easy to produce and can be accessed cheaply by many. Various countries have enacted laws aimed at reducing the consumption of plastic bags without much success. Many businesses opt for these bags because they are cheap to acquire. They do so to safeguard their profit margins, which would otherwise soar if they were forced to use alternative packaging means. Impacts of Plastic Bags on the Environment This paper will delve in the production of plastic bags, how they are used, recycling and effect on the environment. Facts about these bags will be laid bare here including research and findings of other scholars who have dedicated their time to assess the impacts of this menace and how the world can pool its efforts in averting the negative impacts of these bags. The paper will also seek to understand any positive impacts that can be drawn from the use of these bags, the possibility of achieving a 100 percent recycling of these bags instead of abolishing its production, etc. Overall Facts Before digging into the impacts of plastic bags on the environment, it is worthwhile to delve into various crucial facts about plastic bags across the world. In 2008, over 3.5 million plastic bags were discarded into the environment (Yamashita and Toyofuku 2012). It is also estimated that out of every 200 plastic bags produced in the United Kingdom, only one is recycled (Yamashita and Toyofuku 2012).In the United States, however, figures are somehow higher than in the United Kingdom probably due to its high population (Yamashita and Toyofuku 2012). The demand of the United States is about 100 billion plastic bags every year, which transmits a total cost of 4 billion US dollars to retailers every year. Plastic bags can remain not degraded for up to 1000 years (European Plastics Industry 2013). This is the reason some scholars have referred to them as a pandemic to the world. Plastic bags have been known to remain toxic even after they have degraded. There are an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile of the ocean. This underscores the seriousness of these bags on the environment. Life Cycle of Plastic Bags There are over 5trillion production of bags every year and these bags are made of hydrocarbons. Their demand is so high that it consumes 0.2% of the total crude oil produced in the world (Agresti 2012). It is not clear what the lifecycle of these bags is since they have only been in use since the Thirties. Scientists however estimates that the average lifecycle of a plastic bag vary from 400 years to 1000 years depending on the conditions of the environment (European Plastics Industry 2013). Impact on Marine Environment Researcher who have made their contribution on this topic have pointed out various impacts on the society. The impacts of these plastic bags have a heavy cost in the business environment today. Most of which find the way to the oceans and seas where they affect marine life. These plastic bags contain toxic materials, which are harmful to marine life and environment, in general (European Plastics Industry 2013). The dangers of these bags in the sea are many, for instance; they reduce oxygen circulation in the water, and some sea animals mistake them for food. Some animals ingest these plastic bags, and when this happens, they render these animals unable to digest food effectively (McKay 2008). When this happens, the results are always fatal and come with humongous loss to the environment and business at large. Statistic shows that in Australia alone, the government spends over 200 billion US Dollars to collect litter (McKay 2008). Other countries also spend a significant portion of their national cake on cleaning shores and seawaters due to the plastic litters that have filled the ocean. Eighty-six percent of debris removed from the sea are plastic. Scientists who have observed that due to oxidation and solar radiation, these plastic materials eventually disintegrate into very small particles that some of which disappear into the atmosphere causing air pollution as well. The important thing to note is that these tiny plastic particles make their way down deep waters and cause serious pollution deep seas. According to European Plastics Industry, this is a growing trend in the oceanic water and may soon bring deep-sea life to a halt (2013). An estimated I million seabirds and other marine animals die due to ingestion of plastic materials and entanglement (Freij 2014, p. 3). These statistics are worrying to the world, and an action is necessary to reverse this trend. If this research may digress little bit from the point of discussion, it has been proved that many of the carcasses obtained off the coast, show visible plastic objects pointing to the fact that they are a cause of many marine lives loss (Yamashita and Toyofuku. 2012). These creatures mistake these plastics for food, and they eventually fall prey for this pandemic. Other studies have found that, 95% of the carcasses found in coastal lands contain plastic on average 40 pieces of plastic in their stomachs (Freij 2014, p. 2). Whales have been known to swallow very large quantities of these plastics, and this is leading killer of sharks in the sea (Agresti 2012). Plastic litters in the sea also affect people in different ways, for instance; it creates an ugly scenario. Resources used to remove these plastics from the sea are diverted from other important projects in the economy thereby resulting in expensive opportunity costs. The gravity of plastic bags is therefore not different as is observed from other plastic materials. Governments across the world meet every year to discuss global climate change (Agresti 2012). Much time and resources have however not been set aside to address the problem that is threatening to rob the world off its beautiful marine life. Impact on Dry Land The fact that plastic bags can take up to 1000 before decomposing is a serious threat to life. Many local governments have come up with ingenious ways to ensure that these bags are collected for recycling. In America, only 6% of the bags used are recycled every year. The biggest question here therefore remains, where do the other 94% go? The simple answer is that it is left in the environment and the impacts are devastating. When plastic bags are buried in the soil, they prevent air circulation in the soil their by interfering with the normal activities of the microbes in the soil. These bags are therefore known to cause serious problems for agriculture. According to McKay use of plastic bags should be stopped because they have toxic substances have carcinogenic substances that are not good for life on the planet (2008). Many people are hardly conscious of what these bags can do if thrown in agricultural fields. The impacts are large-scale and negative. While in the soil, they do not decompose easily and this hinders growth of roots of various vegetation. Ninety six percent of plastic grocery bags are deposited in landfills (Fehric & Zekic 2014, p. 1045). They therefore make the environment to look ugly and hinder the normal growth of roots. It is so amazing that these plastic bags despite their thinness, they form can strongly act against growth of roots for many plants. Plastic bags also reduce fertility of the soil in areas where they are deposited. This is because they reduce nitrogen fixation rates significantly which leads to huge loss of nutrients in the soil. This in effect leads to poor crop yields (Fehric & Zekic 2014, p. 1047). Poor crop yields have a significant impact on business, social and economic life of a country as well. Many researchers who have dedicated their time to study this area have found a strong relationship between plastic waste damping and reduction in food supply in many parts of the world. Mitigating Efforts Governments, non-governmental organisations throughout the world have amassed their efforts in fighting the use of plastic bags. Some scholars argue that plastic bags are good for use because they are affordable and can be managed easily if people want to. In Europe, several organisations have come together to prevent waste from the environment. They have also urged ministers of the European Union to support their course by passing a bill that sets limits on the use of plastic bags. In Brussels, citizens themselves have joined the war on plastic bags by avoiding their production and use in their country (European Plastic Industry, 2013). With these efforts, there is no sustainable alternative solution. Last year in June, Chile approved regulations that have led to the reduction of plastic bag use. These regulations require only one bag per purchase. In Argentina have unveiled a national day where campaigns against the use of plastic bags are done through debates, radio and video messages. In Bangladesh Social Development Organisation has led the war on the use of plastic. Efforts are being seen in the whole world, but researchers are yet to come up with the best alternatives to these bags. Consumers generally appreciate low-cost plastic bags for their convenience. Solutions should, therefore, be tailored to ensure that packaging materials are affordable and nontoxic to the environment. Alternatives to Plastic Bags Several environmental friendly alternatives can be used instead. Researchers are also doing their work to unveil the best solutions to this problem. As indicated earlier, some oppose abolition of plastic bags since they are affordable and can be managed. Behaviour change is what they front as a sustainable solution to the mess created by plastic bags. Others, however, see alternative bags that are biodegradable as the only solution to this problem. The solutions suggested include, paper bags, jute bags and reusable bags, biodegradable plastic bags. Jute bags have been favoured more because they are environmentally friendly since they are made from the Jute plant fibre that is biodegradable. The fibre in Jute is comprised of mainly cellulose, which decomposes when discarded. It, therefore, releases nutrients to the soil if it is left to decompose unlike plastic bags, which can take up to 20 centuries to decompose (Fehric & Zekic 2014, p. 1047). Biodegradable plastic bags have been recommended, but it is worthwhile to note that these bags are not completely free of any harm to the environment. They carry toxic substances that have other negative effects on the environment. The best recommendation is therefore Jute and paper bags that contain a hundred percent biodegradable materials. Jute Bags These bags are manufactured from the jute yarn and are used for packing of agricultural and industrial goods. The demand for these bags is very high in the world because of their benefits to the environment (Corina 2013, p. 442). These bags are free of hydrocarbons and are quickly being adopted as alternatives in many parts of the world. The only challenge is that there are only two countries producing yarn. They are all in South Asia. India and Bangladesh are the only countries in the world that produce yarn in large scale The major raw material required for jute bag production is jute yarn that is a product of South Asia and specifically a product of India and Bangladesh (Corina 2013, p. 446). In addition, they account for up to 98% of the world’s total production. This is the single factor that hinders the widespread use of this product in place of plastic bags. Other countries that produce jute yarn include Pakistan and Nepal. Some of the advantages of jute is that their raw materials help to bring about ecological balance especially by providing the needed oxygen in the atmosphere (Corina 2013, p. 441). Production of these bags is also simple unlike the production of synthetics and has no harmful by-products. The quality of goods stored in jute bags is maintained because of the sufficient aeration. Paper Bags Paper bags are a simple package made out of paper. They are the traditional packaging in many parts of the world since they are readily available, unlike jute bags. Prior to the jute bags, these bags were commonly used to shop for groceries around the world. Scientifically these papers have been proved not harmful in any way to the environment. This is because when these papers soak, they disintegrate faster. If they are deposited in landfills and agricultural fields, they decompose to form the manure. One Scottish researcher in a study concluded that, a levy on plastic paper bags could lead to an increase in consumption of the paper bag in the economy (Agresti 2012). According to the study, the price of plastic bags is the main factor driving the use of plastic bags in the world (Agresti 2012). A good example is the Gallitos chain of restaurants. They do so by packing their food in plastic and paper containers for customers eating in their facilities and those who take away. Another example is tetra Pack Company that prepares paper packaging for milk and yoghurt companies. Other companies that use plastic bags to package their products can learn these good examples to keep the environment clean for the good of future generations. Biodegradable Plastic Bags Biodegradable plastic bags are made in plastic industries in the world, and their consumption is on the rise. They are less harmful to the environment, but scholars have found that they still contain many toxic substances that are harmful to the environment. This factor, therefore, puts biodegradable plastics together with non-biodegradable in one category as far as environmental conservation is concerned (Agresti 2012). Governments in the world can do a little more in encouraging ad supporting growing of jute plants to promote packaging that is environmentally friendly. More research is also needed to provide other sources of that can be used to develop alternatives to plastic bags in the world. There are restaurants that are already promoting this trend in the world. More research could probably come up with a better way to make plastic bags less harmful and more biodegradable. It should be noted that the international efforts by various countries to promote environmental conservation have born fruits as pressure on local and international manufacturers has resulted into more biodegradable packaging than before (Agresti 2012). Another alternative is to recycle these plastic papers. According to the studies conducted before, countries like Japan that registered 77% rate of recycling ahead of the United Kingdom at 20% in the year 2010. (European Plastic Industry 2013) Recycling can, therefore, be adopted up to 100 percent. If countries adopt systems, which facilitate the flow of these plastic bags back to the recycling plants. The only challenge of this method is that some parts are remote and may pose a challenge in acquiring all the used plastic bags back to the recycling plants. Conclusion In conclusion, there are evidences that technology can bring better ways of mitigating the impacts of plastic bags on the environment. In view of this fact, it is good that governments should invest in ways to realise this. Countries that have shown efforts and commitment to conserving environment have definitely done a good job worth of praise. However, there are others that have not given this course their best. All organisations and everyone need to delve into this issue with commitment in order to achieve better results from this fight. Japan and the United Kingdom score better than other countries in fighting against the use of plastic bags in the world. These efforts can be doubled. More research is also necessary to help the world come up with better packaging ways. Jute plant has been identified as the source of the best packaging materials that are biodegradable. Growth of this plant in other countries can be encouraged to realise a better environment. Non-governmental organisations need to support this course in order to save the world from plastic bags pandemic. Other scholars especially on reducing the toxic substances of both biodegradable and the non-biodegradable plastics have called better research. This is, therefore, necessary to help the world achieve her climatic goals, as well as development goals. People too can be encouraged to change their plastic bag consumption behaviour especially by offering them with gifts if they are spotted using bags that are friendlier to the environment. Environmental conservation campaigns can also be used with an aim of educating people on the potential risks that plastic bags harbour and how these risks can both animal and plant life on the planet. The price of paper bag can also be subsidized to make them affordable. With these initiatives, it is possible to achieve a plastic bag free world. References "European Plastics Industry on the EC Green Paper on Plastic Waste in the Environment," 2013. Food Packaging Bulletin, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 2. Agresti, J., 2012. Bans on Plastic Bags Harm the Environment, New York, N.Y. Corina, J., 2013. "Understanding sustainable development concept in Malaysia", Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 441-453. Fehric, F. & Zekic, S., 2014. "The Impact of Packaging on the Creation of Ecological Environment", Centar za istrazivanje i razvoj upravljanja d.o.o, Zagreb, 04, pp. 1089. Freij, M., 2014. Exhibition seeks to highlight the negative impact of plastic garbage on marine life, Washington. McKay, B., 2008. Corporate News: Pepsi to Cut Plastic Used in Bottles; Attempt Is Latest to Reduce Impact on Environment, Eastern Edition edn, New York, N.Y. Yamashita, M. & Toyofuku, D., 2012. "The Validity of the Reduction of Disposable Plastic Checkout Bags in Japan", Journal of Environmental Protection, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 1020-1024. Read More