Plastic bag usage in a taxed environment: Investigation on the deterrent nature of plastic levy in Maun, Botswana

Mogomotsi, Patricia K.; Mogomotsi, Goemeone E. J.; Phonchi, Nametso D

doi:10.1177/0734242x18801495

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These are shown in Table 2. The chief culprit targeted is single-use plastic bags that are reported to have global annual consumption of up to 1 trillion bags that translate to 32,150 bags per second and most of these end in the environment soon after use [130,[151][152][153]. This is because plastic bags are light weight and have a parachute-shaped design that makes them particularly challenging to manage as they can easily glide through the air and in waterways [154].…”

Section: Plastic Waste In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Food Packaging Industries

et al. 2021

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Over the years, the world was not paying strict attention to the impact of rapid growth in plastic use. This has led to unprecedented amounts of mixed types of plastic waste entering the environment unmanaged. Packaging plastics account for half of the global total plastic waste. This paper seeks to give an overview of the use, disposal, and regulation of food packaging plastics. Demand for food packaging is on the rise as a result of increasing global demand for food due to population growth. Most of the food packaging are used on-the-go and are single use plastics that are disposed of within a short space of time. The bulk of this plastic waste has found its way into the environment contaminating land, water and the food chain. The food industry is encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging materials. A wholistic approach to waste management will need to involve all stakeholders working to achieve a circular economy. A robust approach to prevent pollution today rather than handling the waste in the future should be adopted especially in Africa where there is high population growth.

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Section: Plastic Waste In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Food Packaging Industries

et al. 2021

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“…Studies in several African countries such as Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have enacted legislation to control the use of plastic bags [ 45 – 47 ]. Plastic bag ban legislation in some countries have been effective, while others have encountered limited or no noticeable changes [ 3 , 48 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Botswana adopted a plastic bag ban legislation and levy to reduce the detrimental effects of plastic bags [ 55 ]. The introduction of the plastic levy in Botswana caused a decline in the consumption of plastic bag [ 48 , 55 ]. The plastic bag ban was challenged by manufacturers who argued that they were not adequately consulted before the ban was enacted and that there was no justification concerning plastic bag substitutes [ 56 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of Legal and Policy Framework Approaches for Plastic Bag Waste Management in African Countries

Nyathi

Togo

2020

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

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Plastic bag waste is a major challenge in several African countries. As a way of reducing the detrimental effects posed by plastic bags, governments have adopted various approaches for plastic bag waste management that include levies, bans and or the combination of the two. Despite the adoption of anti-plastic bag policies in several African countries, there has been limited investigation regarding their effectiveness. Thus, the present paper reviews the effectiveness of legal and policy framework approaches for plastic bag waste management in African countries. This systematic review covers legal and policy framework approaches for plastic bag waste management in African countries since 2004 with a view to find their effectiveness. Data sources included peer-reviewed journal articles, websites, books, reports, and dissertations. The databases from which literature was retrieved included Elsevier, Taylor, Springer, institutional repository, and Google Scholar. The current paper argues that poorly enforced plastic bag legislation, resistance from stakeholders, and limited effective substitutes are major factors hindering effective plastic bag waste management in Africa. A six-step model developed by Patton and Sawicki assisted in evaluating plastic bag policies in varied African nations. The study concluded that the key to effective legislation is hinged on consistent enforcement and educating the public to attain environmental buy-in. African countries should adopt and implement the Patton and Sawicki six-step rationalist model to achieve effective plastic bag legislation. African governments should enlighten consumers about other alternatives that are more specific to African countries, especially bags made of raffia and leaves. The findings are limited in that there may be other relevant articles (beyond published articles) about policy and legal approaches for plastic bag waste management, which are not available in the public domain. Therefore, data reviewed may not be exhaustible.

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“…Results: In the short-term, consumption dropped by 24% in the weeks after the ban and 50% by 18 months into implementation [21]. Ten years later, the researchers found that 86% of people say that the ban had no impact on their plastic bag use [23]. Further, based on a field survey with an average levy of BWP 0.44, if the levy were raised by BWP 1.00 the consumption would drop by 29.2%.…”

Section: Botswanamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the studies already observes a rebound pattern over the course of only a few months [26]. A similar case is Botswana, where people reported no impact on their plastic bag use 10 years after intervention, although an earlier study shows clear reductions in the 1st years [21,23]. Nonetheless, these evidences are not strong enough to assume that the effectiveness of plastic bag regulation generally decreases over time.…”

Section: Short and Long-run Impacts On Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of intervention on behaviour change against use of non-biodegradable plastic bags: a systematic review

et al. 2021

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The devastating impacts that bio-degradable products such as plastic bags are having on human health, wildlife, and the environment is enormous, especially single-use once. Single-use plastics are non-biodegradable products and does not undergo biological decomposition nor degenerate. This review examines various government regulations targeted at changing behaviour against plastic bags consumption and their effectiveness. Following a rigorous search in 13 databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Nature, etc. only 17 peer-reviewed journal articles that are published between 2000 and 2019 and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Each study’s methodological quality was assessed using the GRADE system, and data were extracted using a uniquely designed form. The results revealed that regulations based solely on the thickness of plastic bags does not reduce plastic bags consumption. However, regulations focused on banning ‘single-use’ plastic bag usage, imposing higher taxes and levies on consumers, significantly reduce plastic bags consumption. Overall, the latter is considered the most effective. Also, the results show that attitude, perception and behaviour change toward bio-degradable products or climate-friendly behaviour can be significantly influenced by public policy or regulations. Although the behaviour seems short-lived in some countries, therefore further studies need to probe on why. Also, the absence of a national regulatory strategy in North America reduced the inclusion of studies from the region, hence need for more research focusing on sub-national regulations.

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Plastic bag usage in a taxed environment: Investigation on the deterrent nature of plastic levy in Maun, Botswana

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

An Overview of Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Food Packaging Industries

An Overview of Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Food Packaging Industries

Overview of Legal and Policy Framework Approaches for Plastic Bag Waste Management in African Countries

Effectiveness of intervention on behaviour change against use of non-biodegradable plastic bags: a systematic review

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