Plastic bags – the main culprit in plastic pollution?

Abstract

In some people’s mindset, consumption of plastic bags is the root of plastic pollution and natural hazards despite there has been very few evidence or numeric figures to support it. Because of that, this thesis has been done to answer two main questions: (1) How has plastic bags contributed to environment pollution and (2) What is consumers’ perception toward plastic bags. The method of research is literature review with 9 articles retrieved from Centria UAS’ database. These articles have been written from 2010 to 2020, therefore, the validity and reliability of this thesis is strong. The article collection period was done from 1 July 2020 to 9 July 2020.

There are ten key points that have been concluded after the article analysis process: (1) The conclusion of plastic bags being the culprit in plastic pollution has a weak foundation. (2) Paper bags are not a sustainable solution to replace plastic bags. (3) Biodegradable bags may have the same effect on plants as PE bags. (4) The reduction of plastic bag use will lead to environmental improvement is a misbelief. (5) PE waste can be recycled into industrial energy. (6) Recycling may be a long-term solution for plastic pollution, not the cutting of plastic products alone. (7) Public education is important in plastic pollution alleviation. (8) Public information is lacking, hence, it has led to the misbelief that governments’ policies are enough to help the environment and to provide a dangerous mindset to consumers that they have done enough. (9) Overstating the success of governmental policies may overshadow the real problem. (10) Possible indicators for behavior change toward greener alternatives are age, income, education and gender.

Limitation for this study is the small scale of samples (n=9) and limited language articles which may affect and create variation in results. Further studies are recommended to confirm these findings.