Plastic Bags Appear Again In Markets Despite Ban

Plastic bags appear again in markets despite ban

The ban on single-time use plastic bags is no more under compliance as the shopkeepers, vegetable and pushcart vendors in small markets of the federal capital are flouting the law

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2020 ) :The ban on single-time use plastic bags is no more under compliance as the shopkeepers, vegetable and pushcart vendors in small markets of the Federal capital are flouting the law.

The fruits and vegetables market I-11 that provides green grocery to both the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had poor compliance of plastic of plastic bags.

All the vendors were found openly using plastic or polythene bags for selling fruits and vegetables.

According to a WWF report, an average person consumed around 25 grammes of plastic equivalent to the size of a credit card. The report further revealed that this level of plastic consumption was possible due to food contamination with plastic used in the manufacturing of plastic bags. "People buy milk, vegetable and many other food items packed in plastic bag and containers get plastic mixed into it through reaction. It found that globally the average person consumes up to 1,769 particle of plastic each week from water, 182 from shellfish, 11 pieces from salt and 10 from beer. In Europe around 72 per cent of tap water now contains plastic with nearly two plastic fibers found per 500ml." The plastic bags, after getting in contact with food item or beverage were dissolved into it in the form of micro plastics which was then unknowingly swallowed by human beings, said the report.

Pakistan was producing around 12 crore plastic bags per year in 1992 and at present it was producing around 55 billion plastic bags yearly.

The Ministry of Climate Change had worked out a legislation to curb the menace of plastic bags which were proliferating in our environment.

According to this legislation heavy fines were imposed on the plastic bags ban's violators.

Muhammad Rizwan resident of H-9 said ban on plastic bags in the federal capital was positive initiative by the government but the authorities' action in this regard was needed to be strict so that the factories producing plastic bags should quit this dirty content.

Noman Aslam a University student said these plastic bags were causing serious pollution and damaging the environment. "Plastic bags are killing wildlife, bird and marine life whereas its burning in the garbage is creating smog in winters and highly hazardous smoke that is detrimental for human health." He suggested that people should discourage plastic bags use by adopting reusable cotton or jute bags, silicon and biodegradable bags instead of polythene bags.

When contacted an official of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (EPA), she said the ban implementation teams were visiting the markets of federal capital two days a week.

Recently, there was reported to be poor compliance in the rural and far-off areas of the federal capital and after various complaints EPA and its team triggered a firm crackdown against the violators, she added.

In a fresh raid, the ban implementing team had fined Rs350,000 on shopkeepers, wholesalers and other vendors selling plastic bags in Chatta Bakhtawar, Bara Kahu, PWD, and Shakrial areas.