Demand and supply-side interventions for plastic bans

The dismal failure to enforce the prohibition of Single Use Plastic (SUP) in Guwahati city, as highlighted in Tuesday’s edition of this newspaper, is a grim reflection of both administrative inefficiency and citizens still not realising the grave danger of plastic pollution. Expediting the establishment of notified vending zones and construction of more authorised GMC market buildings can be effective in enforcing the ban. The news item also brought to light that despite the imposition of fines on average on a large number of vendors a year since the prohibition came into effect, due to poor coordination among PCBA, GMC and Kamrup (Metropolitan) district administration and lack of follow-up, the authorities have failed to curb illegal circulation of plastic carry bags. An effective approach calls for simultaneous demand and supply side interventions. Current supply-side interventions are mostly limited to surprise and random checks in vending zones and marketplaces. However, most grocery shops which are major sources of circulation of banned plastic carry bags in the city are often not covered under such enforcement raids. Buying and carrying vegetables, fish, fruits, and meat from vendors and markets are now so deeply embedded in the habits of the majority of marketgoersthat when they go to pick up groceries, they insist on a free plastic carry bag even to carry a single bread or a single biscuit packet. If the supply of plastic carry bags is stopped from the grocer’s side, gradually the habit of taking a cloth bag or a reusable plastic bag of permitted thickness can form among consumers. This is now easier said than done, as items like rice, pulses, and sugar, when sold in loose quantities, need to be packed. Grocers prefer the cheaper SUP plastic carry bags over carry bags with permitted thickness or canvas bags for cost-effectiveness. They also procure the prohibited plastic carry bags to meet the expectations of buyers to retain the regular buyers and also attract new buyers. The number of shops and vendors is quite large and keeps rising with the expansion of the city vertically and horizontally. The availability of only 100 municipal police personnel who have been entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the SUP ban in this rapidly growing capital city is like a drop in the ocean and explains why the enforcement raids have failed to create a deterrent impact. Apart from prohibiting manufacture, import, stocking, distribution and sale, the ban also covers the consumers who use the prohibited plastics, but the enforcement raids leave the consumers violating the ban untouched. The message of enforcement and imposition of fines on vendors and traders using banned carry bags failed to create any impact on consumers and a large number of daily market goers, who continue to visit the markets and vendors without carrying a cloth or reusable plastic bag and insist on using the carry bags. Thus, on average, 25-30 banned plastic carry bags reach a single consumer’s home, which ultimately find their way into the GMC garbage vans, drains, and the streets. Establishment of notified and designated vending zones will make it easier for the GMC authorities to take more preventive measures by adopting policies such as linking the allotment of designated vending places with a plastic carry bag ban and suspending the allotment for a couple of days as the first warning, for a couple of weeks as the second warning, for months for the last warning and cancelling the vendor certificate for violation of the ban for the fourth time. The GMC authorities have recently made street vending free for tribal women in the city. Disincentivising plastic carry bag use among such tribal women vendors and cautioning them that violation of the SUP ban will lead to losing the benefit and their allotment in the designated vending zone can be expected to be effective in sending astronger message among vendors and turn out to be an effective supply-side intervention. The authorities putting in place a strong oversight mechanism to keep vigil over enforcement raids is critical to ensuring that seizures are followed up with intense surveillance. Compared to several thousandstreet vendors, the imposition of fines only on 300 vendors this year when street vendors all over the city are seen selling items packed in banned plastic carry bags is indicative of wide gaps in enforcement. The availability of affordable alternatives to plastic carry bags for use by street vendors, retail traders of GMC markets, and daily buyers appears to not be feasible, as buyers are not willing to pay for permitted carry bags that come with a cost. The only viable alternative for buyers is to change their habit and start carrying a cloth bag or a reusable plastic bag. Such a change can become a reality only when the vendors and grocers are compelled to start refusing buyers’ requests to pack purchased items in banned carry bags.