An International Problem

During the past posts I have talked about the UK policies on plastic pollution, naturally as I am from the UK, yet there is lots of diversity across the world when it comes to how they deal with their waste.

The main factor that contributes to how much plastic waste is produced from a country is, unsurprisingly, the population size but also the quality of the waste management systems that are in place. Mismanagement of landfills or disposal of plastic waste into dumps can result in transportation of waste into the oceans via waterways and wind transport which is particularly apparent in coastal communities. This mismanagement can be seen in figure 1. China and South East Asia appears to have the highest levels of mismanagement suggesting that they are polluting a high percentage of plastic waste into the ocean based on their population size.

Figure 1. Map showing countries shaded with estimated mass of mismanaged plastic waste generated in 2010. Survey was conducted by populations living within 50kn of the coastline. Source: Jambeck et al. (2015)

It can be seen in figure 1 that developed nations such as the US and developing nations such as Brazil may have similar plastic waste quantities entering the ocean despite their difference in state of development.

Looking into the countries individual waste policies can indicate their attitudes to the subject.

Kenya

Kenya is seen to have the world’s toughest ban on plastic bags and earlier this year it was stated that there are now clearer waterways, a less contaminated food chain with plastic and fewer “flying toilets”. The benefits continue by neighbouring nations such as Uganda and South Sudan wanting to follow suit in implementing a ban; fishermen are also seeing less bags being entangled in their nets which would overall now increase productivity.

Whilst there is a feel-good factor seen among the population the ban is having a knock-on effect on small businesses who now must fork out for biodegradable fibre bags which see big impacts on their already small profits; if they do not, they could be fined $40,000 (£31,000). Business is considered at a standstill in some areas due to the shakeup in economy.

Undoubtably however the ban has increased the public awareness in the need for a clean environment.

Finland

In the developed nation of Finland it can be easily seen that the people are aware and concerned about the environment due to it being engraved in their everyday routine; the nationwide deposit scheme allows for 94% of plastic bottles to be returned for recycling. Their developed state allows them to put these schemes into place. Despite this there are still struggles similar to the UK about households sorting plastics appropriately.

Indonesia

Drowning in plastic drew a lot of attention to waste in Indonesia. Four of the top 20 most polluted rivers are found within Indonesia; this is due to the population relying heavily on plastic to acquire everyday essentials, such as water, because of the poor infrastructure in place.

Indonesia has a law on waste management which states that it is the responsibility of both the national and regional governments to deal with waste appropriately; the law does not state however who is responsible for what leading to confusion. The citizens are forced to deal with the waste themselves which generally means it ends up in the waterways.

An Indonesian startup is taking matters into their own hands by creating cups and food containers from seaweed allowing for a biodegradable alternative. Whilst this product is seen to have enormous potential in reducing the amount of plastic pollution, it is currently five times more expensive than plastic alternatives and uses plastic wrapping to preserve its texture.

Conclusions

Globally there is large amount of differences in how different countries decide to tackle the problem of waste yet what is also prevalent is that priorities are in clean up; reduction in plastic waste is currently being led by individual startups or strict laws which does not create a positive outlook on the situation. Education from a young age is shown to increase children’s concerns about the environment; this may allow for an increase in the individual startups promoting new ways of dealing with the plastic problem. It has been demonstrated that the willingness to participate in recycling is there, even among developing nations such as Nigeria, cooperation now needs to take place on all levels for this problem to be dealt with.

Once again the issue of plastic pollution reduction may not be as simple as thought. Developed nations have had the opportunity to utilise plastic for decades allowing opportunity and progress within the country; how can we fairly say to developing nations that they have to restrict their opportunity of growth through plastic without providing a suitable alternative?