Question

Should the use of plastic shopping bags be banned? Explain using concepts in class. Review the pros and cons of banning the use of such bags. Can the Coase Theorem be used in this case (i.e., can a solution be reached between shoppers and supplies of plastic bags) or do you think the government should step in? If you believe the government should step in, what policy should it implement? What are the potential pros and cons of the policy?

Answer 1

The use of plastic bags was strictly avoided in the market. The major arguments which argued that the pros of avoiding plastic bags are single use, the finite resources like crude oil used as the raw materials, pulverised plastic waste in the sea gets into the food chain, the corn grown for the production of bio plastic reduce the availability of land for food growing for animals and humans. On the other hand, there are several arguments raised as the cons for the implementation of the avoiding of plastic bags. They are this plastic bag production will having a low cost of production only a few chemicals were used for the production, the production required a little energy and generates only few emissions, low weight, high strength, it resist the water and chemicals, easy of process and also fundamentally recyclable.
Government implemented several green energy projects to avoid the use of plastic bags. This ban of plastic bags ensures that the conventional plastic is never used. The overall plastic usages in the society reduced through plastic less office, collecting plastics from water bodies, using of plastics for roads surfaces, recycling of plastics for better purposes etc. The government implemented policies to reduce the usage of plastic bags in the country mainly focused on the cost of reduction of the production of this bags, the cost of this production also add with the production cost, collecting tax for this type of bags to reduce its use, the banning will increase the efficiency of the drainage infrastructure, it also reduce the need of petroleum and decrease the mosquitoes population. This will ensure the health of the community as a whole. The major disadvantages of these policies are the plastic bans manufacturers scale back and it upfront the cost of shoppers.