Why should we restrict using plastic bags in Kazakhstan?

MAIN PART

In this section I am going to tell about non-biodegradable plastics and their impact on the environment and in particular oceans. Beneficial properties of plastic also make its disposal problematic. There are a lot of evidences for that and Great Pacific garbage patch is one of that. According to Charles Moore who first discovered this phenomenon, this is large garbage layer floating in the North Pacific ocean. Marine debris is one of the significant things that we should focus on. Animals that live in the water ingest plastic, thinking that it is food and die soon because of toxic additives that are used to make the product more solid and effective and lack of food, because they think that they are fed. For example, loggerhead sea turtles frequently mistake plastic bags for food and eat them instead. The entire food web of the ocean are threatened, because plastics block out the sun, which hinder plankton and algae(autotrophs) to produce oxygen and organic compounds that are the main element in the food web. 

Another thing that need to be investigated is plastic’s impact on human health. It has been proved by scientists that keeping food in plastic bags may be very dangerous, because at a high or low temperature, the compounds used in plastic bags such as phthalate and lead are very toxic and people do not know that their organism is dying gradually. In addition,  when bags tightly shut with food inside, we can often see condensat in it. It creates good conditions for fungus to reproduce easily and fast. Eventually, it all leads to the fact that polyethylene damages the food we are eating. 

In this part I will talk about the changes that might occur if KZ gives up on plastic bags. Kazakhstan, as a part of whole, is really contributing for this problem. And Kazakhs have developed a habit of using plastic bags for many things ranging from saving food to keeping their old clothes. And it is, first of all, for the sake of KZ people, because Kazakh people’s nature is too greedy that we use these plastic bags several times when they are meant to be used once only. While people consider it good for the environment, the other thing that slips our mind is their impact on human health and using them many times mean that we are multiplying its effect as many times. I will prove my hypothesis through primary research using survey. 

This paragraph is about bioplastics and ways of utilising rubbish consisting of plastic materials. There are some ways to make plastics to biodegrade quickly, relatively, in 10-15 days or more. They are called bioplastics. They are usually made by adding some cornstarch or vegetable and animal oils. While it is thought as good way to get rid of this problem, it still needs to be considered, as it is not ethical to use biomass in plastic manufacture when a significant part of the population is still starving. And there are 3 ways of utilising plastics today. First is recycling. According to Rick LeBlanc, formerly an operations manager at a recycling cross dock facility, recycling is the best option we have yet. However, not all types of plastics are recyclable for some of them contain mixed materials and it is hard to remove some residues. In addition, in reality, recycling is slightly expensive than producing a new plastic material, taking into contact the cost of transporting these materials to the nearest recycling point. But, nevertheless, it does hinder more plastics to get into ocean, so it stagnates the process. While there are other options like incineration (burning) and landfill, they have their own challenges. Incineration might be the solution that we are longing for if only we created a way to burn them without another global problem rising. Burning oil products produce greenhouse gases such as CO2 and SO2. And landfill is not an option at all, as it does not get rid of plastics, just bury them under the ground and under these conditions toxic materials will find their way to underground water.

In this paragraph I will talk about plastic manufacturers and their reactions to restriction of plastic materials. It is an obvious fact that business does not always go hand in hand with the environment. And this is also one of the obstacles that we may face when we come to this decision. The Kazakhstan government has taken some measures of giving up on plastics gradually. But not all the people would agree nor the plastic manufacturers. For example, Kazwaste, company which produces polyethylene bags do not agree with KZ minister of energetics who said that we should restrict using plastic bags. He says that plastics are helping us to have necessary higiene and such companies provide job for thousands of people. 

My point of view is that we should really stop using polyethylene bags in Kazakhstan. Considering their impact on both human body and the environment, I think that plastic bags should be liquidated as soon as possible. The fact that KZ people do not about it makes it difficult, but if government worked on enlightening people, that would be possible.

CONCLUSION

In response to each of the  research questions, it is possible to make the following conclusions: 

From the results of the survey it is seen that respondents know about the negative impact of plastic bags on the environment and the human body. They mentioned great Pacific garbage pitch and other consequences of overusing plastics. However, the survey was conducted mainly from young

generation that is students, so the knowledge might differ with other age groups. I have found out through secondary research that plastic bags comprise huge garbage pitches in the oceans. In addition, these bags spoil the food in them, producing toxic elements that endangers human’s life. 

The survey indicated that people mostly use plastic bags for keeping rubbish and other things, but a significant part of people said that they are using plastics for saving food. As, it was mentioned earlier, plastics can be gravely dangerous for humans, phthalates and other elements in the plastic materials can cause serious problems.

For a closed question whether Kazakhstan should give up on plastics bags or not, most of the respondents answered positively. They also are not sure whether they will buy eco-friendly bags instead of polyethylene ones. So, this progress will take much longer than I expected, therefore we cannot surely say that this decision will make difference in the world soon. But we can reduce the usage of plastics which can visibly improve the ecology of Kazakhstan.

As it was researched, the 3 main ways of utilising plastics: recycling, landfill, incineration. For evaluating question between three possible ways of utilising plastic, the majority told that recycling is the the best among three as it was predicted, but there were also ones suggesting that we should find way of incinerating plastic bags without much harm to the environment.

As the results of the survey show, it is unlikely for KZ citizens to choose the right kind of products if it costs more that those old ones. So, it is predicted that plastic manufacturers will not go broke anytime soon, but many of people who answered the survey question concerning this topic said, 

LIST OF USED LITERATURE:

(Nationalgeographic, Charles Moore, discoverer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in an article for Natural History magazine in 2003). 

(Koch, H. M., & Calafat, A. M. (2009). Human body burdens of chemicals used in plastic manufacture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences) 

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