Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at efforts to tackle the plastic crisis. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.

SINGAPORE — In Rwanda, being caught with a plastic bag is a crime. Over there, it is also illegal in general to import, produce, use or sell plastic bags and plastic packaging. Another African nation, Kenya, has also enacted a law to punish anyone making, selling or importing plastic bags with as much as four years in jail or a US$19,000 (S$26,140) fine.

More than 40 countries the world over including China, the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia have banned, restricted or taxed the use of single-use plastics.

Singapore has so far not gone down that path. In this war to save the environment, it would seem that plastics are the scourge of the Earth. As to how to wage the battles, however, the jury is still out.  

Despite the negative environmental impact caused by plastics, they should not be demonised, some experts argued.

Professor Richard Lampitt, a visiting researcher from the United Kingdom’s National Oceanography Centre, said at a recent public talk on ocean plastic pollution that plastic is a wonderful material, but the problem lies in “how we deal with its end of life”.

A SNAPSHOT OF THE PLASTIC CRISIS

Globally

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), plastic production saw a dramatic increase from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to 311 million tonnes in 2014. The number is expected to double again over the next 20 years.

The polymers, which can take up to 400 years to decompose, have been blamed for the negative impact they have had on the global environmental landscape, such as making their way into the stomachs of whales and seabirds, and polluting the oceans.

A 2016 WEF study said that plastics are entering the oceans at the rate of one dump truck every minute. At this pace, it estimates there will be more plastics than fish in the ocean by 2050.

The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) said that out of 335 million tonnes of plastic produced globally in 2016, only 9 per cent were recycled.

In Singapore

A study by the SEC found that people here use at least 1.76 billion plastic items each year:

• 820 million plastic bags from supermarkets

• 467 million polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles

• 473 million plastic disposable items

In other words, a person in Singapore would be using at least one to three disposable items per week. Same goes for PET bottles.

While SEC found that plastic bags are regularly re-used by Singaporeans, other single-use plastics such as stirrers have a lifespan of just 10 seconds, or five minutes in the case of straws.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT PLASTIC POLLUTION

• Beyond the fatal implications plastic pollution has on marine creatures, it also has a direct impact on humans.

• Plastic waste breaks down in the ocean over time into microplastics.

• These tiny particles are then ingested by a range of marine creatures — including those in the human food chain.

• Microplastics do not always pass harmless through the human body, with at least one study finding that they can damage an individual’s organs.

• They can also leach hazardous chemicals that can compromise the body’s immune function and even stymie growth and reproduction.

• Plastics are also derived from fossil fuels. “Consumption and utilisation of plastics is indirectly depleting a finite resource,” said Assistant Professor Seck Tan from the Singapore Institute of Technology.

PROS AND CONS OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Ban on single-use plastic

Placing a ban would remove the option for customers to use single-use plastics from the equation.

However, Mr Kim Stengert of the World Wide Fund for Nature warns that a ban will force businesses to come out with an alternative solution, such as paper bags or straws, which may not necessarily be better for the environment.

The authorities in Singapore had said earlier this year that paper and biodegradable bags may require as much resources to produce as plastic bags and have a similar environmental impact.
 

• Plastic bag levies

Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Louis Ng describes a levy as an ideal middle ground, as it gives customers a choice to use the plastic bags if they have to, while encouraging them to bring their own reusable bags at the same time.

A levy also forces the customer to think twice about taking more plastic bags than necessary.

Though it might be a bitter pill to swallow at first, Mr Stengert said the pinch in the wallet can be assuaged if customers know where the money raised by the levy is going to — for instance, a charitable cause instead of profit for the company.
 

• Recycling

In theory, effective recycling would keep everything within a closed-loop system — old goods can be broken down to their base components, which in turn can be used for making a new product.

However, Singapore has a low recycling rate due in part to a high percentage of contamination, and people find it inconvenient to recycle. The country recycled only 6 per cent of its plastic waste last year, according to the National Environment Agency.

Contaminated recycled plastics end up being incinerated, which increases carbon emissions.
 

• Public education: Refuse, reduce, reuse

Overall, experts believe that a focus on education and awareness would be more beneficial.

Mr Ng said that people should refuse single-use plastics where possible. If not, they should reduce the amount of plastics needed, and reuse them whenever they could.

Asst Prof Tan believes that “public education as well as (a) little nudging from behavioral science can skew consumption patterns for less plastics”.