Question

Collect the evidence of where people are still using polybags

Answer 1

HEY THERE HERE'S YOUR ANSWER

The European Parliament has voted in a draft law aimed at halving the use of plastic bags across the continent by 2017, and further reducing them by at least 80% by 2019. This positive move is aimed at curbing the use of very thin plastic bags of less than 50 microns (0.05mm), which most often end up as flyblown litter in trees or break apart to be eaten by wildlife.

The suggested measures include levies on bags, taxes, and compulsory replacements with biodegradable alternatives. There have been some successes already, in Ireland and Denmark, for example. In research colleagues and I published in the Journal of Business Ethics, we found that individuals, government institutions, and large organisations all have a role to play in encouraging a change of behaviour towards ethical consumerism. This step forward by the European Parliament should encourage governments to act decisively and pass laws to accelerate the reduction in the use of wasteful and polluting plastic bags.

In February 2014, the UK government’s cross-party Environment Audit Committee made a call for all shops to be included in plans to introduce a 5p charge on plastic carrier bags in England. A similar scheme will be introduced in Scotland this autumn.

Evidence from Ireland, where a plastic bag tax (“plastax”) in 2002 led to a 94% drop in bag use within months and raised millions of euros in levies. In Wales, a similar levy cut the use of single use bags by up to 96%. Northern Ireland reported a slightly smaller but still significant reduction of around 80%. But a sustained change in behaviour towards the use of plastic bags will require clear and concise action and a joined-up approach to tackling the problem.

We found that supermarkets clearly had a key role in reducing the use of single-use carrier bags – the sort targeted by the European Parliament. The majority of respondents in our survey said they began using reusable “bags for life” in around 2008, which coincided with the introduction of the voluntary agreement between the British Retail Consortium, leading supermarkets and governments to reduce single-use carrier bags. Since the voluntary agreement ended in 2009, there has been a slow but steady increasein their use.

PLEASE DO MARK BRAINLIEST