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The Risks of Banning Plastics

Introduction 

Pollution is affecting the environment in very many ways that are air,

land, and water. Plastics materials used for the packaging of various

substances have increased the rate of pollution which is affecting all living

creatures that are animals, human beings, and plant life in aquatic and

terrestrial ecosystems. Because of very many incidents in which plastic

thrown away as garbage has been found in animal measures were taken to

control the use of plastics. For instance, many countries both developing

and third world countries have adopted bans on plastic materials. The paper

will discuss the risks and harm that banning plastics will cause to the

environment while discussing how plastic banning will help protect the

environment. 

Imposing a ban on plastic will be helpful in protecting the environment.

The manufacture of plastics is made through the use of fossil fuels. Fossil

fuel leads to the production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide

which causes global warming and air pollution. Plastics are also non-

biodegradable which causes problems in soil formation which ends up

creating problems for the plants since they need soil and the bacteria found

within for functioning. They also produce toxins that travel up the food

chain causing harm to every living thing in the environment.

Synthetic materials as said earlier are not biodegradable and animals such

as turtles who feed on jellyfish find it difficult to distinguish between

jellyfish and a plastic bag (Bergmann, Gutow & Klages, 230). For this

reason, many wind up dead or washed up on the beaches because of

consuming plastics. When plastic bags are banned such problems named

above would reduce along with many others. Cancerous cells have also been

linked to plastic materials. For instance, when warming food in a microwave

using plastic can lead to cancer. By banning the use of plastic materials

these problems would be avoided and animals protected.

Plastic banning on the other hand will lead to risks in the environment.

Many supermarkets and industries are changing to different materials of

packaging because of plastic banning. However, the impact or

consequences of the new materials that are being used for packaging have

not been identified (Harrabin). The environmental effects of new packaging

materials are highly unmeasured and might lead to heavy environmental

effects than that caused by plastics. (Bose) says that glass bottles are heavy

than plastics thus might contribute to more air pollution during their

transportation. Paper bags that are replacing plastic materials are also

ineffective since they can only be used once and are have also been

attributed to higher carbon emissions than plastics. The use of different

materials other than plastics for packaging might lead to more harmful

consequences in the environment than that caused by plastics.

It is therefore agreeable that banning plastics would cause heavier

consequences in the environment. The use of new material to replace

plastics is unknown and unmeasured for instance the transport of heavy

glass materials has not been clearly defined or measured thus the pollution

emitted through transportation is unknown (Harrabin). Government and

counties should look for alternatives that will mitigate the use of plastic

materials such as straws and plastic bottles through the adoption of policies

that can help reduce per-person usage of a single-use plastic rather

than banning the use of plastics and manufacture since the risks associated

with banning of plastics are unmeasured and unknown.

Conclusion

The use of single-use plastic has become a menace to the environment

with animals and plants being the most affected. The plastic ban has

detrimental effects and risks to the environment as well as having positive

effects on the environment. The banning of plastics helps safeguard the

environment from heavy pollution which piles up because plastics are non-

biodegradable making them difficult to get rid of thus increasing their piling

up. On the other hand, bans are not the most effective way of dealing with

plastic pollution because there are risks and unwanted consequences

accompanied by the use of new material in packaging to replace plastic

packaging. 

Work Cited

Bergmann, M., Gutow, L. & Klages, M. “Marine Anthropogenic Litter”.

Springer, 2015. 

Bose, P. “Plastic Packaging Alternatives- Are they causing more harm?”

AZO Cleantech. 2020. https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?

ArticleID=1011

Harrabin. R. "Plastic Packaging Ban 'Could Harm Environment'". BBC

NEWS, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-

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