Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
•Cleaneralternativesarealsosuggested
and made available at stores. These
include cloth bags, polypropylene bags,
recycled paper bags, string bags, baskets
and boxes. Biodegradable bags made of
corn starch are also recommended for
some stores
•AcommonwealthSenate
Committee was set up to
enquire into the possibilities of
imposing a levy because it was
felt that voluntary approaches
and retailers' code of practice
are unlikely to result in
suficient environmental
beneits
Bangladesh
•Seriousandrepeated
looding in the
country which
resulted in major loss
of life, was linked to
blockage of drains by
plastic bags
•Ban:TheGovernmentimposeda
complete ban on the sale and use of
polyethylene bags in March 2002 in the
capital city, Dhaka
•Awarenesscampaign:Thebanwas
complimented by a massive public
awareness campaign to persuade
people not to use plastic bags; the main
alternatives being promoted are jute bags
•Priortothebanaboutnine
million plastic bags were
thrown away in the capital
of which only 10-15% were
put in dustbins, while the rest
ended up in drains, sewage
channels and open spaces
Canada
•Almostallthe
big grocery chain
stores accept bags
for recycling. The
average household
produces 8.88 kg of
plastic bags per year
and 2.46% of the
total waste stream
consists of plastic
bags and locally
44.93% of all plastic
bags produced are
recovered
•Recycling
In 2012, at least 285 million kg
of post-consumer (including post-
commercial) plastic material was
collected for recycling in Canada.
This represents a 10% increase
in recycling over 2011, due in
large part to increased purchasing
by domestic reclaimers. The
non-bottle rigid plastic category
saw the greatest growth of 14
million kg, a 29% increase.
Plastic bottles continue to make
up the majority of the recycled
plastic [33]
China
•About3billion
plastic bags were
used daily and more
than 3 million tons of
them were disposed
annually [34]
•Chargesystem:Aselectionof
supermarkets in Shanghai started
charging shoppers for plastic bags from
2004 in an attempt to reduce waste
•China'splasticbagbanintroduced
on 1
st
June 2014 prohibits shops,
supermarkets, and sales outlets from
handing out free plastic bags and bans
the production, sale, and use of ultra-
thin plastic bags under 0.025 mm thick
•Thisisexpectedtoreduce
the more than one million
bags/day given away by the
supermarkets, which either
end up in landills or blowing
around the city as litter
•Inacountrywherebillionsof
plastic bags are used each day,
the government's top-down
policy move is likely to beneit
the country's environment and
energy security
