Impact of Plastic Ban On Environment & Economy – Free PDF Download

WHAT IS SINGLE-USE PLASTIC?

• Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.
• They include- plastic bags, straws, water bottles and most food packaging.
• They are petroleum based & are not biodegradable.

COVERAGE OF BAN

• The government is leading efforts to scrap single use plastics by 2022.
• The ban will be comprehensive and will cover

1. Manufacturing
2. Usage
3. Import of such items

IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT

 VISIBLE & INVISIBLE PROBLEM

• The first, since they are practically non-biodegradable, they end up on the roadsides, in landfills, lakes and oceans, and thus make their way into the food chain.
• It is felt acutely in India because our towns and villages do not have adequate waste disposal systems.
• The second invisible problem is their ecological footprint — in terms of the environmental cost vis-a-vis their production, transport and use.

THE PARADOX

• The paradox of the plastic bag is that its total environmental footprint is actually much lower than that of alternatives.
• According to a study conducted by the Danish government in 2018, you need to use a paper bag 43 times to achieve the same cumulative environmental impact as a plastic bag.
• To achieve the same environmental impact as the plastic bag, a cotton bag would have to be used 7,100 times.
•  If India’s proposed ban on single-use plastics is successful, the benefit is that we will reduce plastic pollution, but at the cost of worsening the cumulative environmental impact.

 IMPACT ON ECONOMY

 NEGATIVE IMPACT

• A large part of existing investments, machinery, business processes and jobs in the plastics industry may be in trouble.
• Only big companies might be able to afford additional costs to replace old machinery.
• The burden of a plastic ban will disproportionately affect the poor because of the price of plastic bags.

• The packaged drinking water industry told the government that the PET bottles used by them should not be classified as single use plastic.
• It will have adverse impact on the Rs 30,000 crore industry since no alternative was immediately possible.

POSITIVE IMPACT

•  The economic benefits will mainly arise from new investments and innovations in the packaging industry.
•  Also good number of jobs will be created through it.

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