Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban.

Single-use plastics bags are commonly used as packaging materials majorly intended for disposal or recycling after one-time use. Materials like grocery bags, straws, disposable cups and cutlery, bottles constitute the list of single-use plastic bags. The ban on the use of these plastic bags has greatly impacted environmental cleanliness. This article focus on the Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban.

1.      Reduced Oceanic Deposits and Other Water Bodies Pollution

The plastic bags, given their light nature, ultimately find their way into the water bodies like rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. The wind blows the plastic bags off from the many disposal points across the world and ultimately deposits them in the nearby water bodies. Overtime these plastic bags’ debris ends up in the ocean causing pollution and starvation of the ocean life from oxygen. With most countries implementing the ban on single-use plastic bags, these deposits have been seen to be reduced considerably.

2.      Reduced Pipelines and Drainage Blockages

Plastic bags are the major cause of pipelines and drainage blockages given their poor degradation ability. Being a single-use material most of the plastic bags get dump even by the roadside and later into the drainages when there are heavy rains carrying everything down the drains in form of surface runoffs. The ban on these single-use polythene bags has reduced such aimless dumping which ends clogging the drainage and sewer lines an Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban.

3.      Less Trash Accumulation

Dumpsites across the world have proven to be a menace that has been difficult to handle in most countries. Near big cities, you normally find piles and mountains of dumped solid wastes. Single-use plastic bags are majorly the constituents of these wastes. These dumpsites have led to air pollution around the world, with various countries coming on board to implement the ban on single-use plastic bags there has been a great reduction of accumulation around the dumpsites which has significantly reduced the air pollution, Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban.

4.      Continued Conservation of Nonrenewable Resources.

Major components of the plastic bag manufacturing material are nonrenewable resources, with enormous consumption of such single-use plastic bags worldwide these resources stand to be depleted soon. The ban on single-use plastic bags can have helped bridge this consumption gap thereby leading to the conservation of these nonrenewable resources which can be used wisely in other applications where they cannot be misused. The plastic bag ban movement should therefore be supported in aid of aid the conservation efforts they are putting up across the world.

5.      Reduced Cost of Bags Disposal

Solid waste disposal has over time become expensive to handle and needs massive investments to fully handle. Most of these solid waste materials are these single-use plastic bags and containers. It therefore only imperative to say that the ban has significantly reduced the bag disposal and solid waste management costs in the countries where they have fully implemented the ban.

6.      Instilled Some Sense of Discipline Among the Population

In the countries that have fully implemented the ban on single-use plastic bags like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is a criminal offense to be found in possession of these bags. This has been backed with stringent legislations that keeps the population in check and in the long run achieve the full adherence to the ban which translates to discipline among the population.

7.      Less Landfill

Plastic bags may take over a century to fully degrade, landfill is one of the plastic waste disposal methods that have proven over time to be unsustainable given the huge amounts of plastic bag waste generated daily across the world. The world currently produces over 380 million tons of plastic waste annually, this is not sustainable in the long run thus the ban is inevitable and should be embraced across the world by all countries.

8.      The Emergence of Reusable Bags.

When the ban on plastic ban came into effect in some countries, there emerged alternative reusable bags. This has greatly reduced the amount of waste generated in form of plastic bags. The manufacturing of reusable bags has also created jobs for people across the world due to the emergence of the manufacturing industries.

9.      Reduced Danger to Animals’ Health (Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban).

Plastic bags are known over time to be a massive killer of both wild and domestic animals. When the animals accidentally ingest these bags, they lodge in the alimentary canal and block furthers digestion from taking place. The animals that have eaten these plastics eat less, thus lack energy grow weak ultimately overtime they die.

10.   Reduced Operational Cost to The Retailers in The Form of No Expenditure on Packaging Materials (Positive Effects of Single-Use Plastic Ban).

Initially, the retail outlets were issuing the single-use plastic bags to their customers. In the countries that have enforced the ban, the retailers do not have to worry about this anymore and instead the customers come with their reusable bags, or in some cases, they sell to them reusable ones. This has reduced significantly the cost on the retailers and their profit margins have grown from the sale of reusable bags.