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Nepal's Ban on Production and Use of Plastic Bags Comes into Effect
- fubar682 10y agoGreat effort!!
- TruthAndDare 10y agoMe too!
- nl 10y agoNote that this appears to be a ban on the thin, single user plastic bags only. We've had a similar ban here in South Australia for a number of years now. It has worked quite well - one either remembers to bring a bag when grocery shopping, or buys a reusable one then.
- ireadfaces 10y agoSee, this actually worked at your place. If plastic bags will be banned people will make a point to bring bags with them, which they don't do now.
- tajen 10y agoSince July 1st, France has banned them too. They were already forbidden is supermarkets anyways. Note that the biodegradable corn-based plastic bags are still allowed.
- Freak_NL 10y agoThe Netherlands has this as well since this year. Putting a price on plastic bags actually seems to change people's behaviour — for the good. The law doesn't even stipulate a minimum price; as long as plastic bags aren't free, people will bother to bring their own.
- justinclift 10y agoInterestingly, the "biodegradable" bags seem kind of scam-ish. Apparently the PLA (corn based) ones only break down in a "commercial" composting environment. According to this article, that means 10 days at some specific temperature (the article says "70 degrees" but no more). http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/corn-plastic-to-the-rescue-126404720/?all http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/corn-plastic-to... Only cottoned onto this personally, after noticing the "compostable" bags I'd been using to hold vegetable scraps... weren't compositing in the home compost bin even many months later (nearly a year now). :/
- snowy 10y agoIn Ireland we have a levy (I.e. addiontal tax) on plastic bags. It's been in place since 2002: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland#Plastic_Bag_Levy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Republic_of_I... From link: One noticeable success in Ireland's environmental track record was the introduction of a plastic bag levy in 2002, the first country in the world to do so. All consumers were required to pay 15c for a plastic bag; this led to an immediate decrease of over 90% in the amount of plastic bags in circulation. From 328 bags per inhabitant per year when the levy was introduced, usage fell to 21 bags per capita.
- TruthAndDare 10y agoWhat do you mean by "worked well"? What scenario would have had you conclude that it did not work well?
- pjc50 10y agoScotland has a similar system. It has also worked well; I'd conclude it had not worked well if there were ongoing serious complaints, or the litter problem of carrier bags continued.
- nepalese_junky 10y agoI hope the government enforces this rule to the fullest extent. We also need to regulate those water bottles that are tossed in every corner of the streets.
- TruthAndDare 10y agoWhat about going after the tossing instead?
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y agoWhy not do both?
- TruthAndDare 10y agoBecause I think you shouldn't take deciding what other people are allowed to do lightly. Such things should only be done in extreme cases, like self defense or, perhaps, to prohibit ruining nature through littering.
- chiph 10y agoOffer a return payment for them of a few cents each. It's how a lot of highways & cities in the US stay clean of aluminum cans - the homeless pick them up and turn them in for a profit.
- neokya 10y agoExactly. In Germany, return payment is 0.25 EURO and it works great. Most people at home collect them and bring to supermarket. Those who throw them on streets, homeless people are more than happy to pick up and cash in. Win-win situation in every angle.
- collyw 10y agoThey are nice thick ones as well. I usually bring one or two home from Germany, as they are far better suited for reuse when hiking than the crappy ones you get here.
- aaron695 10y agoLike most dictatorship style enforcement of human behaviors I find this distastefull to the extreme. Like most dictatorship style policies its also pointless and for theatrics only. Perhaps Nepal could improve child mortality first even if its not hipster enough for the west.
- jahnu 10y agoWhat a hysterical reaction. It's not dictatorship. They can vote out the ruling government any time. Some things require enforcement. My post people are happy with such enforcement that comes with a small cost to personal liberty that benefits pretty much everyone. Ireland did something similar years ago and the results were incredible. An almost overnight transformation of the cleanliness of the cities and countryside. Nobody would like to reverse the decision now despite significant opposition before-hand. Same with the smoking ban.
- TruthAndDare 10y ago> Ireland did something similar years ago and the results were incredible. An almost overnight transformation of the cleanliness of the cities and countryside. Nobody would like to reverse the decision now despite significant opposition before-hand. Are you suggesting that the issue of debate was whether it would lead to less litter? That's almost obvious, isn't it? Surely, the question must rather be whether it is morally acceptable for us to impose such a rule on other people.
- jahnu 10y agoI'm showing, not suggesting, that many people needed to experience the enforcement in order to be convinced of the benefits of changing their habits.
- TruthAndDare 10y ago> many people needed to experience the enforcement in order to be convinced of the benefits of changing their habits. So, do you mean that these people considered the outcome uncertain until it was tried?
- smackay 10y agoThis is anecdotal and all but I am not so sure ban on plastic bags is that effective (though the figures given for Ireland seem substantial): The free, single-use plastic bags were perfect for our 20 litre garbage bin. Now I have to buy 30 litre garbage bags (the minimum size available) so, on that alone, the change means we are using 50% more plastic. We still accumulate reusable bags, though at a lower rate. So much so that I have to start using them as garbage bags, to thin the herd. The takeaway from this is that the 10 cent charge is way too low. The reusable bags were great for other things also: taking things for recycling, wet clothes from swimming, going to beach, etc. The reusable bags are bulky so other types of plastic bag are pressed into use and hoarded. So we got at least two uses out of the previous bags: one trip home with groceries and another trip taking out garbage/recycling. What did make a substantial difference to our household's consumption of plastic bags was that some supermarkets (here in Portugal) offered, free of charge, heavy-duty, hold-all style bags for a short period of time. These are long lived and infinitely preferable to the single-use sort.
- TruthAndDare 10y agoI am confused. You seem to be saying that the law had negative consequences for you and that you therefore think the cost needs to be increased to correct you into the intended behavior.
- smackay 10y agoThe goal of the legislation was reduced use of plastic bags. I am saying that at the rate we accumulate reusable bags, the price of 10 cents is simply too low to force people to remember to carry a reusable bag when visiting the grocery store.
- basicplus2 10y agofor me this is correct.. now me the consumer simply pays more.. once as a supermarket doesn't pay for it and does not lower their prices and twice as I as a consumer now pay for a rubbish bag. no reduction in plastic bags, but usually more plastic waste as as they are bigger. supermarkets, plastics manufacturers, and oil companies get more profits, ordinary consumers pay more, mother nature a slap in the face..
- douche 10y agoIs it not possible to get the old-style brown paper bags instead? Quite honestly, I would prefer to go back to the paper bags, since they hold more, are sturdier, and are biodegradable. Although I would have to come up with a new solution for dog waste...
- fovc 10y agoIs plastic vs paper bags really that clear-cut an issue? I get the recycle/decompose angle, but I would have thought that paper bags would use much more energy (embedded + transport), release many more chemicals, and cause much more deforestation. I suppose Nepal is probably optimizing for the trash reduction benefit
- driverdan 10y agoPlastic bags are actually more environmentally friendly for the issue you mentioned. Their production uses far less energy and water which results in fewer CO and CO2 emissions. The only negative impact of plastic bags is that people litter.
- ethagnawl 10y ago> The only negative impact of plastic bags is that people litter. Of course this does happen. However, even if people were meticulous about putting their used plastic bags in trash receptacles, there are still _lots_ of ways for plastic bags to make their way into the environment: trash cans get overturned, trash bags sitting on the curb waiting to be picked up are torn open by animals, etc.
- collyw 10y agoPeople can still litter with paper bags, but those will at least decompose.
- vram22 10y agoUse of plastic bags causes huge other issues, apart from just the energy consumed to make and transport them. They are often thrown anywhere after use, are light, so fly around, even to medium distances, clog up all sorts of places, including land and water bodies. In India (and other countries where cattle roam free, even in towns), animals that eat them (or rather bite them to get at some food in the bags), are sometimes found choked/suffocated to death, cows particularly. Also, a big one, poor/homeless people collect plastic waste (not only bags, also plastic pieces used for packing, thermocol, etc.) and in winter burn them at night to keep themselves warm as well as to cook. That causes a lot of pollution, including, I've read, toxic dioxins from burning plastic, which is banned to do in many developed countries. I do know that preventing some of these things are only solving symptoms or superficial causes. But they are a problem all the same.
- DanBC 10y agoNepal has a population of about 28m. Kathmandu has a population of about 1m. > The Nepal Plastic Manufacturers’ Association said that whether the ban is imposed or not, 4,700,000 to 4,800,000 pieces of plastic bags would be consumed daily in Kathmandu itself. That's a surprising number of bags for a small population. Everyone in Kathmandu uses more than 4 bags, every single day?