Editorial»
Paper or plastic?
JUL 17 -
Discarded plastic bags are an urban nightmare. Cross over any bridge in Kathmandu and you can take in a bird’s eye view of the impact of non-biodegradable plastic bags swamping the city’s rivers. They are infamous for littering the streets and notorious for clogging drains—something even more apparent during the monsoon. And the toxic plastics used to manufacture these indispensable sacks, especially the small black ones, have adverse health effects many people may be unaware of. So it makes perfect sense that Kathmandu follows Pokhara’s example and ban plastic bags. The current law in Pokhara bans the use of black plastic bags under 10 microns with plans to extend the ban to all plastic bags. But as much as this move would have environmentalists in the capital cheering, the law’s success may prove difficult; in Pokhara, despite the current law, plastic bags under 10 microns are still being sold openly.
Plastic bags are not without their benefits: they are water resistant, light weight and most of all convenient. And their alternatives—jute, cloth, or paper—can be quite expensive in comparison to the low-cost polyethylene bags. For consumers, the immediate benefits of using plastic bags often outweigh the environmental costs, which is exactly why laws like this are so hard to put into force. Almost a year and a half after New Delhi passed a law banning the use, sale or storage of plastic bags of any kind it is still struggling to enforce the regulation. Shops have come up with ways to circumvent the law or blatantly refuse to comply, often citing costly alternatives. In response, the government planned to make the punishment harsher (with some offenders charged fines between IRs. 50,000 to IRs. 100,000) along with increasing police raids to catch violators. But in a county struggling with impunity on a much larger scale, the resources and personnel to effectively enforce the sale and use of plastic bags will not be easy to come by.
In order for this law to be effective, it must be accompanied by a change in consumer culture. Though it is hard for many of us to imagine life without plastic bags—which is clear in Pokhara where every member of the 300,000 population uses an average of 100 black plastic bags a year—the government will not be alone in its fight. Already there are businesses offering incentives to consumers for opting to reduce and reuse.
There is no doubt that a ban on plastic bags is crucial, but it will have to be met with a larger commitment on the part the government to enforce the rules until consumers are persuaded of the benefits of alternatives.
Posted on: 2010-07-18 08:21
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