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Pakistan’s plastic bag ban: an analysis of citizens’ support and ban effectiveness in Islamabad Capital Territory

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Abstract

The excessive consumption of single-use plastic bags in recent years has fueled plastic pollution leading to considerable adverse consequences for human health and the environment. To control the high rates of plastic pollution and its marked effects in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, the government imposed a ban on single-use plastic bags in August 2019. Hence, to overcome plastic pollution and successfully implement bans in other parts of the country, it is critical to study this ban’s effectiveness and identify factors that contribute to its success. As research on this matter currently remains limited, present study attempts to understand the drivers for ban’s support and evaluate the role that awareness, education and the availability of alternatives play in increasing support for this ban. The survey results exhibited a positive relationship between the aforementioned variables and support for the plastic bag ban. Although plastic bag consumption fell for 77.5% of the sample after the ban, it failed to be entirely effective in eradicating plastic bag usage as bags were widely available in small shops. Respondents felt that increasing awareness would reduce resistance against the ban, and the government, non-government organizations, and the general public should all take part in conducting these awareness campaigns.

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Availability of data and materials

The data sets used and/or during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. For more information on Pakistan’s population: http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20SELECTIVE%20AGE%20GROUPS.pdf.

  2. To learn more about the sample generation process, access: http://fluidsurveys.com/university/survey-sample-size-calculator/.

Abbreviations

EPS:

Expanded polystyrene

GPPS:

General purpose polystyrene

HIPS:

High-impact polystyrene

KP:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

NGOs:

Non-government organizations

PET:

Polyethylene terephthalate

PVC:

Polyvinyl chloride

UNEP:

United Nations Environment Programme

USA:

United States of America

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Alishba Jehangir, Maleeha Imtiaz & Verda Salman

Authors
  1. Alishba Jehangir
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  2. Maleeha Imtiaz
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  3. Verda Salman
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Contributions

The idea was collectively conceived by all the authors. AJ and MI collected and analyzed data and prepared the initial draft. VS finalized the methodology, improved the data analysis and carried out revision of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Verda Salman.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethics approval

The study was given ethical approval by the Ethics Committee of School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST).

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All the participants were also ensured that their answers would be recorded anonymously, and they were given the choice to refuse to participate if they wished.

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Appendix

Appendix

The questions used in making indices for health and environmental awareness are as follows:

Health awareness

  1. 1.

    Do you feel plastic pollution leads to lung problems?

  2. 2.

    Do you feel plastic pollution leads to skin problems?

  3. 3.

    Do you feel plastic pollution leads to reproductive issues?

  4. 4.

    Do you feel plastic pollution increases chances of cancers?

  5. 5.

    Do you think plastic pollution has an adverse impact on drinking water?

  6. 6.

    Do you feel plastic pollution negatively impacts brain functions?

Environmental awareness

  1. 1.

    On a scale of 1 to 5, how much does plastic pollution negatively affect the environment?

  2. 2.

    Do you think plastic wastes emit toxic gases into the air when burned?

  3. 3.

    Does plastic pollution harm sea life?

  4. 4.

    Does plastic pollution contribute to climate change?

  5. 5.

    Does plastic pollution harm living beings (animals) on land?

  6. 6.

    Does plastic pollution harm agricultural crops?

  7. 7.

    Do you feel plastic uses scarce, non-renewable resources (oil, gas)?

  8. 8.

    Do you think plastic waste blocks gutters and sewerage systems?

  9. 9.

    Does plastic waste contribute to loss of visual beauty of areas where they accumulate?

  10. 10.

    Does plastic waste harm the tourism industry?

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Jehangir, A., Imtiaz, M. & Salman, V. Pakistan’s plastic bag ban: an analysis of citizens’ support and ban effectiveness in Islamabad Capital Territory. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 24, 1612–1622 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01429-2

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