99 per cent know about plastic ban, but continue to use: Study reveals

CHENNAI: A survey conducted by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) researchers revealed that 99 per cent of the residents are aware of the ban on single use plastics in Tamil Nadu but a majority of them remain dependent on the bags, including plastic bags, provided by shops.

Moreover, more than 70 per cent of the respondents are aware of all the ill-effects of plastics including environmental degradation, toxicity, impact of microplastics such as entering food, animals and birds while remaining respondents knew about one or two impacts of the plastic. None of the respondents are unaware about the negative impacts of plastic items.

During the survey, researchers Keerthana Thangavel and MS Soumithra approached 200 households of a low-income community in Chennai. As many as 201 respondents responded to the survey questions.

"Some interesting insights from the survey include the fact that while 99 per cent of the respondents were aware of the plastic ban, a good proportion of the respondents claimed that the ready availability of single-use plastic and poor enforcement of the ban contributed to their continued use of plastic products, " the survey report said.

Around 42 per cent of the respondents use a combination of plastic and their own cloth bags while going out for purchase while the other 15 per cent of the respondents depend on plastic bags provided by the shops. Among the single-used plastic products, plastic carry bags are most frequently used by the respondents followed by PET water bottles and paper cups, plates, straws and others. Interestingly, 96 per cent of the respondents knew that paper cups and plates contain plastics.

The report added that a good portion of the respondents (72.6 per cent) cited the easy availability of plastics and the ease in carrying them as their reasons for single-use plastic reliance. About 43.8 per cent of the respondents save their plastic bags and reuse them and 35.8 per cent segregate their plastic waste and dispose of it, while the rest just throw it away without segregation. All the respondents showed willingness to opt for reusable materials, the report said.

"About half the respondents identified forgetfulness, disinterest in carrying one's own bag, unavailability of refilling options, and learnt habits as the reasons why they continue to use single-use plastic products. This indicates that consumers' reliance on SUPs is also a learnt behaviour and one that will need to be broken over time, " the survey pointed out.

In fact, consumers in the study claimed that widespread and sustained awareness campaigns will help them to reduce the use of single-use plastics. The findings of better enforcement, and consistent awareness building exercises needs to be borne in mind by policy makers if the reliance on SUP plastics is to be addressed, the report recommended.

"Addressing the plastic reliance will therefore need to be done on two fronts at least - enforcing the plastic ban and creating awareness so the public is frequently reminded of the detrimental effects of single use plastic, " it added.