There are a number of things that governments can do to stem the toxic tide — from running public awareness campaigns, to offering incentives for recycling, and introducing levies or even banning certain plastic products outright.
Dozens of national and local governments around the world have already adopted policies to reduce the use of disposable plastic. And the number continues to grow. Here are some tide-turning national governments and city authorities: (from Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability and news outlets)
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Ireland
In 2002, the Irish government introduced a tax on plastic bags at points of sale, known as the PlasTax. People were required to pay €0.15 for a bag and the aim was to bring about behaviour change and boost the use of reusable bags. The measure was accompanied by a strong awareness campaign and the revenue earned went into an Environment Fund. Within one year, the use of plastic bags dropped by more than 90 per cent, and the consumption per person fell from 328 plastic bags per year to 21 bags. Before the ban, plastic bags accounted for 5 per cent of national waste; by 2004, this had fallen to 0.22 per cent.
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India
On World Environment Day in 2018, host India pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country of around 1.3 billion people by 2022 but it subsequently rolled back on implementing a ban, citing the risk of disruption during an economic slowdown. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to end the consumption of single-use plastics by 2022. India also joined the Clean Seas campaign on World Environment Day and promised to establish a national and regional marine litter action campaign as well as a programme to measure the total marine plastic footprint in India’s coastal waters.
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Indonesia
In 2017, when Indonesia, the second biggest marine plastic polluter, joined the Clean Seas campaign, it pledged to cut plastic waste in 25 coastal cities and reduce marine litter by 70 per cent by 2025. In January 2020, authorities in the capital Jakarta said they would ban single-use plastic bags from street markets and shopping malls from the middle of the year. The new regulation says retailers should provide environmentally-friendly carrier bags and the penalties for violations will range from written warnings, to fines of anywhere between US$360 and US$1,800, and finally suspension or termination of trading permits.