KARACHI: Alternative to hazardous plastic bags under study: Usable may replace disposable
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, Nov 4: The proposal to introduce safe shopping bags to replace the plastic-made shopping bags, which carry hazards of different kinds, is under active consideration.
It became a serious issue when used plastic bags started playing havoc with public health as well as sewerage lines and overall environment. It is observed that many people, due lack of awareness about environment and hygiene, do not dispose of plastic bags properly after using them and simply throw them away only to let them pollute the environment and cause clogging of sewerage lines.
At the same time, it has been established that black plastic bags contain a pigment which is carcinogenic in nature. At certain temperatures, this pigment becomes active and causes contamination to eatables coming in contact with it. Consumers of such infected eatables ultimately suffer from certain health problems.
The findings were part of a report prepared by a commission constituted under a Supreme Court order in 1993. Eventually, the then governor of Sindh decided to impose a comprehensive ban covering all sorts of plastic bags. However, at a meeting between government officials and stakeholders, it was realized that the ban on the shopping bags not found to be carrying health hazards was unfair. Accordingly, the ban was restricted to black shopping bags only and efforts were started to find a remedy to the other aspect of the fast-growing nuisance — environmental degradation.
The set of proposals under active consideration now is to find an alternative hand-carry/package utensil made of a some safe material. At a briefing held at the Governor House recently, it was suggested that a lead should be taken from other countries which had already got rid of this menace. It was pointed out that some of these country had succeeded in replacing shopping bags with better quality bags which appeared to be reusable for being durable. The material used in the manufacturing of the some kinds of the safe bags includes paper which dissolves in water and does not cause clogging of sewerage lines.
The participants of the briefing agreed that instead of imposing a ban on manufacture, sale and use of hazardous shopping bags, the government should focus on discouraging their use. They discussed different aspects of the ineffectiveness of the ban, one of them being that the ban not only covered manufacturers and sellers, but also the users.
As the issue is related more to the mismanagement in disposing of solid waste than to environment, it may better be addressed if viewed in the socio-economic background. If viewed in the perspective of environmental effects only, any alternative to the plastic bags is bound to pose the same or similar threat to public health and environment in the absence of a system/strategy for solid waste management. The only change likely to emerge would be that the newly-introduced bags would be visible at all places where plastic bags are found at present.
Another proposal discussed was to levy heavy tax on the plastic bag material in order to make it so expensive that one could not afford using the item this way.
Yet another proposal came up for discussion during the briefing that the government should provide incentives to those associated with the polythene bag business to enable them switch over to some other trade.
It was also discussed that shopkeepers be asked to discourage use of plastic bags by not offering them to their customers at all or at least not absolutely free. The customers may ultimately revert to their old practice of bringing with them something to carry away the goods.
The root-cause of the growing menace of plastic bag hazard is that there is no proper system to collect and dispose of used plastic bags at a level they are being used and littered everywhere. Therefore, a proper planning in this regard demands efficiency on the part of civic agencies which have so far failed to overcome the problem.
There is also a need for the government to spell out quality and standards for any bags to be used for the purpose and a ensure strict implementation of the rules and regulations for any violation. The institutions like Plastic Technology Centre of the PCSIR, Plastic Research Centre, etc., may provide big help in setting such standards.
