The largest landfills in the world are far from our eyes.

 

According to the Ocean Conference made by the United Nations, every year more than 9,000,000 tons of plastic are dumped into the sea and more than 100,000 marine mammals are killed every year. An article by the Washington Post shows that there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the world's oceans by 2050.

 

Many countries started to take an action and single use plastic ban is one of a key measure in this worldwide fight. But is this measure effective all around the world?

 

Netherland government stated that 3 billion plastic bags have been used per year before their prohibition. The total ban of single used plastic effected on 1st January of 2016. This measure intended to combat litter on the streets and in the sea and prevent waste of resources.

 

In addition, in 2017, the results of the single use plastic ban given by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment shows that:

- 70% less plastic bags cross the counter

- 40 % less plastic bags as litter

in 2019. EU Parliament including Netherlands has approved a new law banning single-use plastic items:

- Items such as single-use straws to be banned by 2021

- 90% collection target for plastic bottles by 2029

- More stringent application of the polluter pays principle.

 

But these measures are almost entirely useless if they’re not enforced, too. This seems to be the case in Morocco, which adopted the single use plastic ban in 2016. Despite the ban, the bags are still used at markets, where they’re almost always given away for free.

 

According a research made by the ecological Dutch site Plastic soup foundation, the majority of Moroccan consumers says they use between 5 and 15 plastic bags per shopping trip. To illustrate, the people who got questioned on the survey said that they still use plastic bag because it´s free.

 

Furthermore, 60% of business owners stated that 80% of their customers expect to be given free plastic bags. Also, Alternative bags are more expensive and less practical.

The Moroccan ecological association « Zero Zbel » ( Zero Trash in english) fight against that situation by giving recommendations to the government to penalize people who are still carrying plastic bags by paying fine like it’s already in the law in countries like Rwanda or Kenya .

 

Zero Zbel wants also that the government start to deal with the producers of illegal bags. Another recommendation is to have the results of the law be evaluated by an independent organization every year.

 

In other places the situation is more complex. According to Visitaruba.com Aruba produce 20 tons of plastic every day, which is a difficult situation to handle for such a small Island.

Moreover, the 5 students from Windesheim Honors College who did research on single-use plastic banned in Aruba stated that the locals and tourists are still poorly educated in terms of ecology and that the world’s waste floating in the sea (Cuba for example) is still a threat for the island.

 

Based on research conducted by the Impact Blue Foundation, the impact of the ban made that 2/3 of the population switched from the plastic bags to paper bags, 1/5 of the population switched to reusable bags and 1/10 to other types. Finally, almost 2/3 of the population perceived the impact of single use plastic bag as positive. That survey shows that despite the huge problems that Aruba is facing, the mindset of people in Aruba start to change. it gives the island a chance to contribute to the world change.