Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
cloth bags, polypropylene bags, recycled paper bags, string bags, baskets, boxes and
bio-degradable bags made of cornstarch for keeping the environment free from plastic
wastes. Shoppers were given a two cents deduction from their shopping bill every
time they used a calico bag, which was selling at A$2, which was a great success.
This appears to have drastically reduced the use of plastic bags by over 20% by the
year 2002.
5.4.2.4.2 Bangladesh
The Bangladesh government imposed a blanket ban on the sale and use of PE bags
starting in March 2002 in Dhaka, which was complemented by a massive public
awareness campaign to persuade people not to use plastic bags. The main alternatives
being promoted were jute bags. From the reports available, prior to the introduction of
the ban on plastic bags, only 10−15% of the 9 billion plastic bags used were disposed
in the dustbins, with the rest ending up in drains, sewage channels and open spaces.
5.4.2.4.3 China
The Chinese Government took a decision as early as 1996 to comprehensively
remediate the 'white pollution' (plastic foam) problem along the Yangtze River, in
the Taihu Lake and along railways by terminating the use of one-off foam tableware.
Thereafter, the Chinese Government enforced the regulations on a total prohibition
of non-degradable polystyrene foam tableware on passenger ships and cruise ships
which sail along the Yangtze River and the coast, and also declared that all the one-off
tableware must be made of degradable materials. This has helped China, to effectively
solve the problem of 'white pollution' in the marine environment [30].
5.4.2.4.4 Denmark
In Denmark, plastic bags are taxed within the larger packaging tax introduced in
1994 with the aim of promoting the use of reusable bags. The tax is paid by the
retailers when they purchase the bags rather than by the shoppers. This was found
to have a lower impact than in Ireland, with the consumption of paper and plastic
bags declining by 66% in Denmark as compared to about 90% in Ireland.
5.4.2.4.5 Eritrea
For preventing plastic bag pollution, Eritrea imposed an outright ban on the use of
