A Critical Review of the Mitigation Strategies Against Ultra-Thin Plastic Bags Environmental Degradation Effects

Abstract

Plastic bags or the ultra-thin plastic bags disposal and management have increasingly been condemned as a menace to the environment due to its non-biodegradable nature. Global campaigns on the banning of the bags have been widely orchestrated with a recent ban in Kenya by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources being the latest move among the developing countries. Almost unanimously, the banning of the bags has been attributed to incur reduced usage of the bags and induce alternative usages. From both an economic and environmental point of view, the ban on the production and usage of plastic bags is tinted and an over deposition on its ability to curb its adversities on the environment. The ban is a bold move projected at not condemning our environment to a state of collapse and unsustainability, however, we cannot confidently argue that the bags are malignant rather as benign as well, having reduced the pressure on our esteemed forest ecosystems. In the essence of the quandary facing the plastic bag disposal and management, the most insurmountable question that has been evaded is the people’s ethical and moral obligation and contribution to the management of the plastics. It would be unconvincing to blame the bags without revisiting the utilization, disposal and management behaviors of the bags among the people. It can be argued that the menace experienced from the bags is no matter of institutionalizing a ban rather a matter on the peoples’ attributes, lifestyle and morality when it comes to the management of the bags. It would be foolhardy to believe that banning of the plastic bags without efficient campaigns projected at changing the populations and markets’ mindset on the bags would be sustainable. Therefore, this paper aims at reviewing the utilization, disposal and management of the plastics bags with emphasis is on the recent bans and postulate alternative measures for sustainable management of the plastic bags drawn from social, environmental, and corporate ethics point of view.