Plastic Bag Ban - Essay Example

Plastic Bag Ban The debate about the effectiveness of plastic bag bans to achieve desired goals has been ongoing over the years. Plastic bag bans aim to reduce the pollutant effects, which is attributable to their production and litter. The bans encourage the use of reusable shopping bags. However, they have a negative economic effect on the plastics industry, retailers, and consumers. The use of plastic bags has been popular since their emergence in the 1940s. Currently, their production is about 260 million tons of plastics every year. Recyclable high-density polyethylene bags used once are currently the most popular bags for retailers and consumer. They are referred to as Single‐Use Plastic Bags and are provided at checkout point for transporting purchased merchandise from the establishment to a secondary location. Plastic bags, however, convenient have a huge negative effect on the environment. They persist in the environment for as long as one thousand years given their resistant to biodegradation. The average time of use of single‐use plastic bags is about twenty minutes, and the remainder of the lifespan is spent as litter in the environment mainly piled up in landfills. The photodegradation of plastics also adds to the negative impact on the environment. It produces toxins, which upset the ecosystems. The production process of plastic involves the conversion of fossil fuels into polymers. This process generates greenhouse gasses that have a negative effect on the natural climate. The marine ecosystem has been greatly affected by plastic with reported marine animal deaths as a direct result of plastics. The undesirable effects of plastics, particularly single‐use plastic bags has led to the growing popularity of plastic bag bans worldwide. These bans take different designs depending on the target population (Villarreal and Baruch 6). They take into account the economic impact of the ban on retailers and consumers relative to the ban’s effectiveness to control the negative impact of plastics on the environment. Plastic bag bans take various forms. One form directly limits single‐use plastic bags. They charge the consumer a fee on alternative bag types if a plastic bag ban and fee ordinances are enforced. Plastic bag bans have an economic impact on retailers, consumers, cities and plastics manufacturing industry. Therefore, the expected result of the ban should be considered relative to the economic impact on these groups. Retailers currently offer plastic bags to their consumers free of charge and take up this cost. Plastic bag bans and an added fee on the paper bag ordinance may result in retailers opting for paper bags, which may be of greater cost. Retaining the fees from paper bags will offset the purchasing cost. Retailers are also concerned about the loss of business to regions with no plastic bag bans. Current studies do not offer a substantial conclusion with some citing no sustained negative impact and the emergence of a new opportunity in the sale of reusable bags. A study by National Center for Policy Analysis cites negative economic impacts of the bans. The studies on the long-term economic effect for consumer and cities have also shown varied results. Advocates of plastic bag bans argue that restricting the use of plastic bags would reduce environmental litter and protect the marine ecosystems. Studies show that HDPE plastic bags represent about 0.6% of litter in the world. They, therefore, represent only a minuscule proportion of the litter worldwide. Thus, this implies that plastic bag bans will only address an insignificant portion of the problem. Studies in San Francisco after the implementation of the ban on HDPE plastic bags in 2007 showed that the amount of litter did not decline. The audit showed that the amount of plastic litter increased. The plastic bags that clog storm drains have also been shown to account for only 1% of the total litter in storm drains. Plastic bottles and other plastic items represented the higher percentage of the total litter clogging the storm drains. Bans on plastic bags, therefore, have a limited impact on the effect of litter on storm drains. Plastic bag bans also aim to reduce the impact of plastic on marine ecosystems. Claims suggest that plastic litter finds its way into the oceans causing the death of marine life and birds. However, concrete evidence to support this claims does not exist. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration point out that little is known about the composition of the ocean floor and the so-called garbage patch forming in the middle is an unproven hypothesis. However, the flotsam has been shown to increase in the recent years because of the rise in plastic use. The claim that plastic bag litter is a significant threat to marine life is not substantial. Discarded or abandoned fishing gear, on the other hand, have a grave impact on marine life and should be addressed. The plastic bag bans aimed to reduce the impact of plastic on marine ecosystems should be reevaluated to assess the effectiveness relative to their expected economic impacts. Plastic bag bans and regulations aim to reduce the cost of waste disposal for municipals and to reduce the generation of waste. Plastic bags do not constitute a significant proportion of the total waste in municipalities. Regulations that restrict the use of plastic bags and encourage the reuse of used paper bags would likely result in increased mass of waste product produced (Williams 508). This is because NWPP, LDPE, and paper are significantly heavier than the conventional HDPE plastic bags used by consumers. The use of NWPP, LDPE and paper utilize significantly more water and energy as compared to HDPE plastic bags. This, therefore, implies that the general cost of waste management, water and energy use should be reasonably evaluated when implementing plastic bag bans to ensure that it is cost-effective in the end. Regulations and bans on HDPE plastic bags aim to reduce the total consumption of resources. By banning the use of plastic bags, they aim to reduce oil consumption. However, the impact may be minimal considering that a large percentage of plastic bags are produced from natural gas rather than production from oil. The consideration that some alternative of HDPE plastic bags particularly non-woven polypropylene is produced from oil should be taken into account when formulating legislations that ban the use of plastics. Studies show that exclusive use of HDPE plastic bags would reduce the total consumption of non-renewable energy resources, particularly coal, oil and natural gas, when compared to the other alternative bag. Water is another major resource utilized during the lifespan of the bags. It is used in production, during use and in the disposal. Studies show that HDPE plastic bags utilize less water when compared to the other alternative bag. The economic impact of resource use is an important variable in the construction of effective plastic bags bans and regulations. Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the concerns raised regarding the use of plastic bags. Bans and regulations on HDPE plastic bags aim to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses at the production stage of plastic bags (Laurie, Starla, and Chris 372). The awareness of Global Warming because of anthropogenic activities has increased in the recent years and has become a chief concern for the human population (National Center for Policy Analysis 1). This has driven efforts to restore the environment and is one of the cited reasons for banning the use of plastic. This claim has, however, not been corroborated. The studies require taking into account several parameters for all bags used to produce conclusive evidence that reducing plastic bag use will lessen greenhouse gas emissions as opposed to focusing on the production stage only. The implementation of plastic bag bans may have unpredicted impacts. One impact that may not be straight forward is the impact on the health of consumers. In 2010, some consumers presented with a norovirus (Kimberly and Keene 1639).They were members of a soccer team from Oregon, who had consumed some food from a contaminated reusable bag. Reusable bags have also been associated with bacterial diseases and other pathogen related diseases (Summerbell 3). Proponents of plastic bag bans claim that the restrictions on HDPE plastic bags would reduce litter, protect the marine ecosystem, lessen the consumption of resources, and the emissions of greenhouse gasses. On the other hand, arguments against the plastic bag bans claim that they are discriminative against low‐income communities. The portion of waste composed of plastic bags is insignificant and hence does not justify the drastic action of plastic bag bans. Additionally, they would increase the use non-renewable energy resources, particularly oil, coal and natural gas. They also claim that they would increase the general water consumption with insignificant impact on the costs of municipal waste management. They argue that the ban would result in public health issues due to bacterial, viral and other pathogenic contamination of reusable bags. It is recommended that the construction of the plastic bag ban ordinance should involve a critical analysis of the benefits of the ban relative to the potential consequences. It should take into account both the economic and environmental impacts of the proposed ban. The implementation process should involve the education of the consumers and retailers about the ordinance, as well as any other necessary knowledge such as the cleaning of the reusable bags. Works Cited David, Williams, Charles, Gerba, Sherri Maxwell and Ryan, Sinclair, “Assessment of the potential for cross-contamination of food products by reusable shopping bags,” Food Protection Trends, 31.8 (2011): pp. 508–513. Web May 14, 2015. Laurie, Johnson, Starla, Yeh and Chris, Hope. “The social cost of carbon: implications for modernizing our electricity system,” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 3.4 (2013): pp. 369-375. Web May 14, 2015. Kimberly, Repp and Keene, William. “A point source Norovirus outbreak caused by exposure to fomites,” Journal of Infectious Diseases, 205.11 (2012). pp. 1639–1641. Web May 14, 2015. National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban, Policy Report No. 340. August, 2012. Villarreal, Pamela and Baruch, Feigenbaum, “A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban,” National Center for Policy Analysis, Policy Report No. 340, August 2012. Summerbell, Richard. “A Microbiological Study of Reusable Bags and ‘First or single-use’ Plastic Bags,” Environment and Plastics Industry Council, May 20, 2009. Table of content Introduction Economic Impact Plastic Bag Bans and Litter Plastic Bag Bans and Marine Ecosystems Plastic Bag Bans and Waste Disposal Plastic Bag Bans and Consumption of Resources Plastic Bag Bans and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plastic Bag Bans and Other Unpredicted Impacts Conclusion and Recommendations Read More