Economic and Environmental Outcomes of Plastic Bags Ban: A Case Study of Sonipat City

Abstract

Plastic bag is one of the various miracles but a controversial invention of the 20th Century. Worldwatch Institute (2017) estimated that 4-5 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually across the world, appreciated for contributing to the medical field, hygienic food packaging and reducing packing costs in many industries. But during the 21st Century, disposal of waste created by plastic bags posed a complicated problem as only 1 per cent of bags are recycled. Research revealed that the waste created by poly bags deposited in the oceans, urban drainage, and agricultural soil damages our ecosystem. Accumulation of plastic on soil, water and air for a long time works as the entry point for carcinogenic toxins in the food chain and harms flora and fauna rigorously. Whereas some policies devised to ban plastic bags ended up adversely impacting customers and businesses. India, with the use of 14 million plastic annually, faces the problem of plastic pollution due to the lack of an organised plastic recycling system. To combat this problem, the Indian Government came up with Plastic Waste Management Rule 2016. It passed a resolution to ban single-use plastic manufacturing, trade, and utilisation from July 2022. The present study is an attempt to analyse and evaluate the pros and cons of the plastic ban policy in the context of environmental and economic outcomes in Sonipat city. Quantitative and qualitative techniques are applied to the primary data collected from the field survey. Based on the study’s findings, suggestions have been given to face the challenge of banning plastic bags in Sonipat city.