Ban on Plastic Bags in Karachi

City District Government of Karachi has banned Plastic shopping bags. During last few days the CDGK took strict action against the manufacturers of these Plastic bags, resellers and distributors. CDGK’s action has resulted into an acute shortage of paper bags, rubber bands and other packing materials that are widely used by local grocery stores and shop keepers. The shop keepers are facing difficulty to come up with some quick alternate to plastic bags.

There is no doubt that these plastic bags are dangerous for the environment and managing them with the garbage is real trouble for CDGK. Since there is no proper system of handling and disposing garbage, these plastic bags cause damage to city’s infrastructure such as electric and water supply and sewerage system.

It takes almost 500 to 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose. It is possible to recycle plastic bags but it is an expansive solution for a city like Karachi. These plastic bags are so cheap that once used, there is no incentive for people to reuse them again. Every shop keeper, store and retailer offers a free bag with almost every thing. From Large electrical appliances to ice cream vendors, every one offers shopping bag for no extra cost. When mixed with other garbage these plastic bags create a huge mess of pollution. Even the developed nations are facing difficulty combating the disposal and recycling of plastic shopping bags.

The advantages of banning the plastic bags are unlimited. However, there are still some concerns over such an immediate action. This is a huge industry the ban would affect thousands of people involved in manufacturing, distribution and resell of these bags. Mass usage of Paper bags is itself not an environment friendly idea but these bags are easy to recycle and they get easily decomposed naturally.