Plastic bags are a threat to the environment

According to Fars news agency’s community group, Mehdi Khadim Samani, director general of the Environmental Protection Organization’s waste management office, said: Today, July 21, which coincides with July 12, is World Plastic Free Day. One of the reasons for naming this day is the huge consumption of plastic bags and, on the other hand, the indestructible nature of this petroleum substance and the damage it causes to the environment. Considering the information and awareness that is provided through visual and audio media as well as virtual networks is done in the country, almost most of the people have been informed about the harmful and destructive and irreparable effects of plastic, the most widely used of which are plastic bags, and this awareness is the starting point for changing people’s vision and behavior towards the environment.

Khadim Samani stated: Plastic bags are a symbol of consumerism culture in today’s world. These polymer products are considered one of the serious environmental concerns due to the very slow decomposition process, low recycling rate and most importantly release in the plains, rivers, forests, deserts, oceans and as a serious threat to the life of animal and plant species. As UNEP Office of the Environment Program has introduced plastic pollution as one of the 10 main environmental problems in the world.

He added: Statistics show that more than 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced in the world since 1950. In the early years, the amount of production was one and a half million tons per year, and now it is nearly 400 million tons per year, which means a stunning and increasing growth in plastic production.

The Director General of the Waste Management Office of the Environmental Protection Organization continued: Unfortunately, our country, Iran, is considered the 17th largest producer of plastic in the world in the packaging sector, and construction is in the second place. A significant part of used plastics becomes waste. A small part of the plastic waste enters the recycling cycle as valuable waste materials, but unfortunately, about 60% of the plastics are not recycled, or they are abandoned in nature, or most of them end up in landfills.

Regarding the better management of plastic waste in our country, Khadim Samani advised: The most important environmental concern regarding plastic waste is the high volume of their production, especially plastic bags, which, due to the low price, production and easy availability, are consumed in the country very much. And it is recommended that in order to prevent the harmful process of production and consumption of plastic bags, incentive and punishment policies for producers and consumers should be applied by the government so that while reducing the amount of excessive production of plastic bags, people will not want to use them and fortunately these policies Incentives and punishments are provided in the regulation to reduce the use of plastic bags.

The director general of the waste management office emphasized the issue of education and stated: In basic waste management, paying attention to the role and position of people is very important and the first step is to educate people. In this regard, Sed and Sima should cooperate in the field of educating people and building culture based on the duties stipulated in the waste management law, and it is believed that if the level of awareness of the society increases, the consumption of plastic bags can be reduced.

Khadim Samani, while referring to the duties of the governments in the field of reducing the production and consumption of plastic bags, stated: According to reports, currently countries such as England, China, Italy, Australia, India, France, Bhutan, Bangladesh and some African countries and Some American cities have banned the use of plastic bags, and some other countries, including Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and several states in the United States, have increased their prices by setting taxes on these bags to make them less attractive to customers. In Switzerland, people are not allowed to use plastic bags to carry their garbage and must buy special garbage bags with the municipal logo on them and use them for their garbage.
He added: According to the latest report of the Office of the United Nations Environmental Programs (UNEP), around 130 countries have developed and implemented laws and regulations to ban the distribution and reduce the consumption of plastic bags. In order to reduce the consumption of plastic bags, our country, Iran, through the Environmental Protection Organization and in coordination with other organizations such as the Broadcasting Organization, the Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, the Ministry of Education and the National Standards Organization, He prepared and submitted the executive regulation to reduce the consumption of plastic bags to the government board, which fortunately was approved in October 1401 and notified to the trustees.

While emphasizing the duties of people in reducing the use of plastic bags, Khadim Samani said: get the least number of nylon bags when shopping, carry cloth bags with you during predictable purchases, use shopping baskets instead of nylon, use less disposable containers, buy products In their packaging, glass or paper is used instead of plastic, and what is very important is to increase the level of awareness and knowledge about the subjects and to recognize individual duties, and consequently to strengthen the sense of social participation.

The Director General of the Waste Management Office of the Environmental Protection Organization, while pointing out that plastic bags are mostly made of polyethylene or polypropylene and in single or multi-layer form, added: the regulation on reducing plastic consumption was approved in 10 articles, and in article 2, which is one of the most important articles of the said regulation The Ministry of Health is obliged to develop a five-year plan to replace 20% of the production capacity of thin plastic bags with a thickness of less than 25 microns with biodegradable or environmentally friendly bags.

Referring to Article 1 of the regulation, which defines biodegradable and environmentally friendly bags, Khadim Thamani said: Based on Article 2, it was decided that an incentive code should be compiled by the Ministry of Privacy and Environmental Protection Organization and announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

He also explained about Article 3 of the regulation: Based on this article, the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, will prepare a guideline to reduce waste production and limit the production, distribution and consumption of plastic bags. The sale and distribution ban of thin plastic bags with a thickness of less than 25 microns has been emphasized.

He stated that there is a ban on the distribution of bags less than 25 microns in the article 3 of the guidelines, adding: These bags are very thin and light and it takes between 300 and 900 years to decompose and return to nature depending on the type of polymer and environmental conditions.

The director general of the waste management office of the Environmental Protection Organization, emphasizing that several meetings have been held in the national working groups of waste management, explained: In Article 3 of the regulation, a deadline of three months was given for the notification of this regulation, in other words, until February 1401. which has been delayed due to some problems in the preparation and delivery of this manual. The Environmental Protection Organization, the Ministry of Safety, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, are trying to prepare this manual, which needs more time.

According to Khadim Thamani, biodegradable plastic bags will be decomposed by the micro-organisms in the environment by adding a series of chemicals and will turn into water, carbon dioxide and non-harmful substances.

The director general of the waste management office of the Environmental Protection Organization also said, referring to Article 6 of the regulation on reducing the consumption of plastic bags, “Based on this article, we hope that in the near future, according to inter-agency coordination and the approvals of the National Working Group on Waste Management, the national standard for biodegradable bags will be formulated and announced.”

While referring to the plastic convention, he said: “Many meetings are being held at the international level, and due to the environmental damage of plastics to the environment and human health, he has been able to create international obligations in the field of banning and limiting the production of plastic.”

The director general of the waste management office said about the level of plastic pollution and microplastics in the environment: currently, about 185,000 tons of plastic are produced annually in the country, which cannot be returned to nature, so we must pay more attention to the collection and recycling of plastic waste. By becoming raw materials of industries, they can be used in other products. Currently, there are no permitted limits for microplastic pollutants in the water, soil, and air environments, nor is there a national or international standard, so it is currently not possible to say how much of our environmental pollution they include, but researchers believe based on international research and monitoring. The concentration of these pollutants in vital sources is increasing.

In the end, Khadim Thamani emphasized: the environmental challenges of plastic bags, on the one hand, plastic bags are considered as a privileged discovery in the 20th century, and their consumption has continued in the 21st century, but they are considered as a big challenge for the planet’s environment, and these products, although They have unique properties that have led to an increase in their desire and use, but on the other hand, they have caused irreparable damage to our environment, and it may be impossible to ignore plastic products or choose an alternative to it, but we must use this The products should be optimal and reasonable in order to cause minimal damage to the environment.

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