Think outside the bag
What do most people think of when they hear the words single-use? Plastic bags, bottles, straws, environment, pollution. Collins has named it the word of the year because of the increase in use in the last five years.
We now produce 300 million tons of plastic every year, half of which is single-use. Around 32% of this is left to flow into our oceans, equivalent to dumping one garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute according to research in Scientific Reports.
On average we only recycle one plastic bag in every 200 we use. Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions of tons of single-use plastic end up as litter each year.
Plastic products are everywhere. We have developed a strong appetite for plastic. Their use in our homes, schools, offices and especially during travels cannot be overlooked. Our modern life is juxtaposed with the convenience of this polymer made up of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, phosphorous and silicone. It’s surprising to think the world was once plastic-free.
In the course of a few decades, our overwhelming reliance on plastic in our daily lives has ended up creating major environmental issues such as groundwater contamination, overcrowded landfills and ocean debris.
In Pakistan, 65% of the litter on our coastline consists of single-use plastic waste. Beachgoers litter using plastic bags, straws and other sorts of non-biodegradable waste. In the picturesque northern areas, the conditions are even more dismal. The lakes and glacier areas are littered with tons of plastic waste, which travels downstream and inadvertently effects the fragile ecosystem of the region.
The solution to pollution caused by single-use plastic is creating awareness about its threat. We are aware that for every action we choose, consciously or unconsciously, we also choose the consequences. Reducing plastic waste, reusing products, and recycling are all ways to tackle the problem.
Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba
In Asia, several countries have attempted to control the use as well as manufacture of plastic bags through levies. Some governments, like India and Bangladesh, have banned the use of single-use plastic, mostly bags. However, the enforcement of regulations has been poor and single-use plastic still sees its way through. By contrast Japan, with a highly-effective waste management system, no ban and a high level of social consciousness, has achieved the target of reduction in single-use plastics.
On 26 October the EU Parliament voted strongly in favour of a complete ban by 2021 on a range of single-use plastic products and replacing them with readily available, environmentally sustainable alternatives. The proposal also requires EU countries to collect 90% of single-use plastic bottles by 2025 and for producers to help cover the costs of waste management and clean-up.
Earlier this year, Britain also said it planned to ban the sale of plastic straws and other single-use plastics.
According to Allen MacArthur: “Plastic waste and pollution are symptoms of a broken system in which we design products without considering what happens to them after they are used.”
The solution to pollution caused by single-use plastic is creating awareness about its threat. We are aware that for every action we choose, consciously or unconsciously, we also choose the consequences. Reducing plastic waste, reusing products, and recycling are all ways to tackle the problem.
We should also recognise the pressing need for our industry to play a leading role in tackling the issue. In addition, by rallying behind a shared vision of a circular economy for plastics, governments and businesses around the world can tackle the issue of plastic pollution. It’s high time we all start thinking outside the bag because there is no planet B.
– The writer is a freelance consultant working in the area of environment and health. She has a keen interest in Climate Change and its impacts on population health and human security.
