LETTER: Plastics ban is not the answer
Other ways must be sought to solve the problem
Nhlanhla Sibisi is entirely correct: SA businesses have a responsibility to offer consumers alternatives to single-use plastics (SA Should Tackle Plastic Seriously, April 24). But an outright ban on any of these is not the answer. Banning plastic means we’ll have to use alternatives, and all of these have a negative impact on our environment: they require more energy to produce and transport. In a world without plastic our energy consumption would shoot up by 26% and global warming would spike by 56%. Alarmingly, in 2018 a Danish study found that an organic cotton bag must be used a staggering 20,000 times before it has the same environmental impact as an average plastic carrier bag — that’s 55 times a day for a year. Plastic pollution in our oceans and environment is disgusting, and unacceptable. We need government to ring-fence the existing plastic bag levy and urgently create adequate waste management systems (including recycling) and infrastructure to prevent plastics from ente...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.