Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Plastic bags Environmental aspects'

Lagos State in Nigeria is faced with the massive problem of waste from plastic bags which causes the yearly flooding displacing thousands of residents and causes diseases like malaria. Plastic bags which became popular because of their versatility, affordability and durability have now become a major source of environmental degradation requiring the use of more environmentally friendly alternatives like Jute, woolen bags, and biodegradable types of plastic. The Nigerian legislature proposed a plastic bag prohibition bill to reduce the manufacture and use of plastic bags with fines and time behind bars which is Nigeria’s first attempt at managing the menace of single-use plastic bags. The goal of this study is to determine reasons for the continued use of plastic bags to contribute to better management of plastic bags waste. It further investigates the available alternatives and willingness of the residents of Lagos to embrace some alternatives to plastic bags. Anonymous online surveys were distributed across social media platforms and interviews involving shop owners described as “givers” who are off social media in this study was carried out. Responses from both quantitative and qualitative sources have been analyzed using the Nvivo software and connection circles have been developed to describe feedbacks within the system. Results showed that the lack of alternatives and convenience are the biggest reasons for the continued use of plastic bags in Lagos, Nigeria. The results further show that the proposed bill has not made provision of alternatives to plastic bags and incentives for manufacturers of plastic bags revealing poor public participation in policy-making of this nature. Overall, respondents have indicated a willingness to embrace alternatives to plastic bags and have mentioned that the situation is worsened by poor waste management in the state. Recommendations included more extensive research into the use of plastic bags with a bigger sample size with both online and offline platforms. This could encourage effective public participation in policy-making important for creating useful nudges in behavioural change in the shift from plastic bags.

The Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping was enforced in July 2009. The Levy aimed to create a direct fiscal disincentive to reduce the indiscriminate use of Plastic Shopping Bags and encourage consumers to switch to reusable shopping bags. In theory, fiscal instruments are more efficient and effective to change people’s behaviour, but its impacts towards attitude are still in question. Also, the level of green citizenship, which emphasising that people have the responsibility to protect and sustain the environment, is a good indicator to know people’s attitudes towards the environment, but the Hong Kong government tends to rely on fiscal disincentives to change people’s behaviour, Green Citizenship had never been addressed. Green citizenship is a personal commitment to learn more about the environment and to take responsible environmental action. Environmental citizenship encourages individuals, communities and organizations to think about the environmental rights and responsibilities we all have as residents of the planet Earth (Environmental Canada, 2006). This study carried out a questionnaire research to identify the policy effect that the Levy in Hong Kong have on environmental attitudes and behaviours, as well as to identify the relative impact of economic incentive versus Green Citizenship on green attitudes and behaviours. The survey was conducted from 25th April to 9th May 2012 for two weeks in the form of internet survey. The research found that the Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags affected citizens’ behaviour and attitude to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags, and also changed people’s behavioural intention to act pro-environmentally, if their beliefs are strong enough to override the disadvantages brought by pro-environmentally actions. However, the level of green citizenship in Hong Kong is still in a private level, the sense of green citizenship of the society is still weak, thus, a comprehensive education programme should be carried out by both the society (bottom-up) and the government (top-bottom) to raise the level of green citizenship of the society.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

Environmental issues have within the recent years become a frequently debated matter and corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a new determinant for consumers purchase decisions. As a consequence of this, ever more companies have begun to implement different CSR initiatives in order to take responsibility for the environment. The arguments differ among researchers whether it is actually profitable for companies to invest in CSR initiatives.

In this study we have based upon the functional theory of attitudes and identified different factors that are likely to affect consumer attitudes towards an environmental CSR initiative and formed a model for this. The model postulates four main factors that are likely to affect consumers attitudes towards an environmental initiative; which attitude a consumer holds towards the actual product (in this case the paper bags) in question, the extent to which a consumer considers environmental responsibility to be important, the extent to which a consumer considers environmental issues to be a threat to her-/himself and the amount of information a consumer receives about the initiative. To test our model we used a quantitative approach and investigated the consumer attitudes towards the initiative no plastic bags at the shopping centre Strömpilen, Umeå.

We found that consumers in general are very positive towards the initiative. We then looked closer into what parts of our model that had significant impact on consumer attitudes towards the concept. The Chi-Square tests showed that three of four parts in the model could be verified. These parts were; the consumer’s attitude towards the actual product (in this case the paper bag), how important environmental responsibility is to a consumer and to what extent a consumer sees environmental issues as a threat to her-/himself. The fourth part of the model; the amount of information a consumer has received could not be verified. Thus the model was modified and was in the end constituted by the three parts that had been statistically verified.

Denna studie undersöker konsumenternas beteende vid köp av bärkassar i livsmedelsbutiker. Konsumtionen av bärkassar är ett problem på flera sätt, denna rapport kommer undersöka konsumenternas kunskap om resurs och energiåtgång vid tillverkning, miljömedvetet beteende och konsumenternas förslag till beteendeförändring vid konsumtion av bärkassar. Syftet är att undersöka om kunskap får konsumenten att agera på ett visst sätt. För att kunna utföra arbetet har en enkätundersökning utförts, både i en vald ICA butik och på Facebook. Enkäten innehöll frågor om konsumtionen, som till exempel vad konsumenterna brukar köpa för bärkasse och hur ofta. Även hur konsumenten tagit sig till butiken är av intresse likaväl konsumentens tidigare kunskaper om resursåtgång vid tillverkning kommer att frågas efter. Sist kommer konsumentens inställning till ett infört förbud efterfrågas och vad som skulle kunna få personen att minska sin egen konsumtion. Studien har kommit fram till att det inte finns några kunskapsskillnader mellan de som köper och de som inte köper bärkassar. Det finns alltså ett value-action gap, konsumenten är medveten om att konsumtionen inte är hållbar men agerar inte utefter sin kunskap. Det mest effektiva sättet att minska konsumtionen anses därmed inte vara bättre kunskap om miljöpåverkan. Istället föredras ett förbud mot plastpåsar baserade på olja. Följaktligen borde butiker endast erbjuda miljökassar och de svenska papperspåsarna. Relativt få av de som deltagit i enkäten är mot ett förbud av engångsbärkassar och eftersom även konsumtionen av miljökassar och svenska papperspåsar har en negativ miljöpåverkan är också minskad konsumtion av alla dessa att föredra. Detta kan åstadkommas med ett ökat pris.
This study examines consumers’ behavior in the purchase of grocery bags in food stores. Consumption of all types of bags is a problem in several ways, and this report will examine consumers’ knowledge about resource and energy use in manufacturing, pro-environmental behavior and consumers’ suggestions to behavioral change while purchasing grocery bags. The purpose is to investigate whether knowledge causes the consumer to act in a certain way. To achieve the purpose, a survey was conducted, both in a selected ICA store and on Facebook. The survey contained questions about consumption such as, what bag consumers usually buy and how often. Even how the consumer went to the store is of interest as well as the costumers’ knowledge previous to the study regarding resource utilization in manufacturing. Lastly, the consumers’ attitude towards a potential ban was asked for, as well as what could make the person reduce his or her own consumption. The study found that there is no difference in knowledge between those who buy bags and those who do not. This leads to the conclusion that there is a value-action gap, one is aware that the consumption is not sustainable, but one does not act according to his or her knowledge. Thus, the most effective way of reducing consumption is not considered to be a better knowledge of environmental impact. Instead, a ban on plastic bags based on oil is preferred. Hence, environmental bags and Swedish paper bags would be more promising options. Relatively few of those who participated in the survey are against a ban on disposable bags. Because even the consumption of environmental bags and Swedish paper bags has a negative impact on the environment, a reduction of consumption of all bags is therefore preferable. This can be achieved with an increase in price.

This study was conducted in South Africa. South Africa is the first country within the Southern African Development Community to have regulated plastic shopping bags waste through the imposition of both a standard on thickness and a levy. Given this scenario, the Plastic Bags Regulations present an illustrative case for researching complexity, uncertainty and controversies surrounding a new trend in environmental policy making, namely waste product regulation. The thesis focuses on understanding and investigating tensions, debates and responses emerging from the policy process as actors and actor-networks put not only the Plastic Bags Regulations asfocal actant (token) but also other actants and actant-networks as well. To this end, a research question that addressed environmental policies, tensions, debates and responses that informed the development of South Africa's Plastic Bags Regulations was spelt out. The research objectives included the need to: (I) analyse selected international environmental policy processes surrounding plastic shopping bags litter and waste regulation and how these influenced developments in South Africa; (2) identify actors, actants and actor/actant-networks that shaped and were being transformed by South Africa's Plastic Bags Regulations and explain the tensions, debates and responses arising in the policy processes; (3) identify environmental policy outputs and assess outcomes emerging from the formulation and implementation of South Africa's Plastic Bags Regulations; and (4) establish patterns in environmental policy process reforms around South Africa's Plastic Bags Regulations. The language of actors (human), actants (non-human) and actor/actant-networks brings to the fore the aspects of processes and relationships that exist around them. As such, insights from the actor/actant-network theory (AANT) were drawn upon to inform the research. AANT enquiry framework collapses binaries such as nature/society, art/science, structure/agency and global/local historically associated with a particular type of social theory. AANT also denies that purely technical, scientific or social relations are possible (the notion of quaSi-objects or token). Data sets were generated following' the Plastic Bags Regulations as token actant with time frames ranging from prior to, during and after the formulation of the regulations. Similarly, data analysis drew insights from AANT's four moments of translation namely problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation, with the intervention theory providing an evaluative perspective that complemented AANT. The findings were that after the promulgation of the first draft of the Plastic Bags Regulations in May 2000, tensions emerged around the nature of regulation (whether command and control - preferred by government or self regulation - preferred by industry and labour). In this regard the latter group raised concerns about jobs, income and equipment loss as well as the need to have a holistic approach to waste management rather than targeting a single product at a time whilst the former maintained that this would not be so. As such, education, awareness and stringent antilitter penalties were proposed by industry and labour as sustainable responses to the problem of plastic shopping bags waste rather than regulation. These debates continued and resulted in minor amendments to the original regulations as finalised by Government in May 2002. However, industry and labour continued lobbying government resulting in the conclusion of the Plastic Bags Agreement in September 2002 and the ultimate repulsion of the May 2002 regulations in May 2003. As revealed by this research, these responses led to broader social responses and further tensions as demand for plastic shopping bags went down by about 80% although an estimated 1000 jobs were lost and a number of companies lost equipment and business (with some closing down) following the implementation of the regulations. During implementation, debates emerged around the need to promote locally made carry facilities with two alternatives in sight namely: the Green Bag and the Biodegradable Plastic Bag. Debates also took place regarding enforcement of the new law resulting in the amendments of various pieces of legislation including the Environmental Conservation Act, Environmental Management Act and the Revenue Laws Act. Overall, a 15-year policy reform cycle and sub-cycles was determined. The research also established that the government considered the regulations a success and was already implementing simi lar initiatives to regulate other waste products, among them, used tyres, used oil and glass, confirming the trend towards waste product regulation in South Africa. From these research findings, a series of conceptual frameworks were drawn up to clarify the nature of tensions, debates and responses surrounding certain lead actors, actants and actorlactant-networks. Some of the conceptual frameworks that emerged around the actors and actor-networks include Organised Government, Organised Industry and Organised Labour. Conceptual frameworks that emerged around key actants and actant-networks include the Integrated Pollution and Waste Management, Plastic Bags Regulations as well as the discourses surrounding the Green bag and biodegradable plastic bags. The thesis concludes by reflecting on how the above and the grand actor/actant-network conceptual frameworks emerging from this research might be adopted with varying degrees of flexibility to research environmental and waste management policy processes in different waste product regulation set-ups.
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Under den senaste tiden har man tagit upp plastbärkassars negativa miljöpåverkan, i EU men även lokalt i Borås. EU anser att plastpåsar är skadliga för miljön och har tagit fram direktiv som gör att alla medlemsstater måste vidta åtgärder för att begränsa förbrukningen av plastpåsar. För att man ska kunna fatta rätt beslut krävs det att man ökar kunskapen om vilka åtgärder som krävs och vilka åtgärder som är mest effektiva för att minska förbrukningen.I detta examensarbete är syftet att jämföra plastpåsars miljöpåverkan mot bärkassar i olika material samt att se över hur plastpåsar hanteras idag, presentera en metod för att utföra en insamling av plastpåsar för återvinning i Borås och utreda om det är miljömässigt lönsamt. Resultaten visar att bestämandet av en bärkasses miljöpåverkan är en mycket komplex fråga då väldigt många faktorer måste vägas in. Vi ser även att införandet av ett separat återvinningssystem för plastpåsar inte är det ultimata då det skulle försvåra logistiken samt kräva komprimering av plastpåsarna för att minska deras volym. Det befintliga återvinningssystemet för plast där man blandar hårdplast och mjukplast är mera lämpligt att använda då det ger en tätare blandning.
The negative environmental impact of plastic bags has recently been brought up in the EU but also locally in Borås. The EU considers that plastic bags are hurtful for the environment and has developed directive to reduce the consumption of plastic bags which all member states must follow. In order to be able to make the correct decisions it is necessary to have the accurate information of what measures are necessary to reduce consumption. In this thesis, the aim is to compare the environmental impact of plastic bags compared to bags in various materials and to review how plastic bags are managed today, present a method for how to collect plastic bags for recycling in Borås and investigate whether it is environmentally viable. The results show that the determination of the environmental impact of different bags is a very complex issue because so many factors must be considered. We also see that the introduction of a separate recycling system for plastic bags is not the ultimate method when it would complicate logistics and require compression, to reduce their volume. The existing recycling system for plastic which blends hard plastic and soft plastic, is more convenient to use as it provides a denser mixture.

In the packaging industry, cushioning products are usually made of plastic materials, such as polystyrene. The insulation and lightweight character make it more popular and convenient to use. However, the extensive use of it creates more waste leading to an environmental problem. Usually the cushioning foams are discarded after being used for inbox protection as packaging material; eventually they end up in a landfill. Most plastic foams are not biodegradable, which cannot be composted and will create more and more waste that affects the ecological system. In the mean time, foams made up of bio-degradable materials are considered. In general, biodegradable plastics are starch-based or cellulose-based, and the biodegradable components can be found in corn (e.g. corn starch, and corn cob). Instead of extracting the corn component, here popped corn kernel will be investigated for its suitability in packaging applications.

Skatten på engångsplastbärkassar som implementerades i Sverige år 2020 möttes med ideologiskt motstånd. Den forskning som gör gällande skatt på plastbärkassar finns främst i internationell kontext och är fokuserad på konsumenters beteenden och reaktioner. Denna studie gör gällande hur berörda verksamheter och organisationer resonerar kring skattens införande, samt dess resultat. Studien syftar också till att identifiera hinder och drivkrafter för implementeringen. För att undersöka förhållandet användes en explorativ ansats där intervjuer med en variation av berörda verksamheter utgjorde materialet för studien. Resultaten visar på att implementeringen mötts av missnöje av hälften av deltagarna på grund av skattens singulära syfte, samtidigt som den andra hälften anser att tillämpningsområdet var tillfredsställande. De hinder som identifierades var svårigheter att definiera engångs-, respektive flergångskassar, samt bristen på synkronisering eller kombination med andra styrmedel. De drivkrafter som identifierades relaterade till organiseringen och kommunikationen mellan de berörda verksamheterna, till trots förbättringsmöjligheter för dessa aspekter. En av slutsatserna är att styrmedel som detta bör nyttja både ett teknocentriskt perspektiv om plastbärkassens miljö-, och klimatpåverkan, samt ett socioekonomiskt perspektiv utgående från berörda verksamheter och organisationers behov.
The Swedish tax on plastic carrier bags that was implemented in 2020 was initially met with dissatisfaction from the public and stakeholders. Current research investigating the tax on plastic carrier bags was done in other countries and is focused on the reactions and behaviours of consumers. Thus, this study investigates stakeholders’ reasoning around the implementation of the tax as well as its results. Another aim is to identify obstacles and driving forces for the implementation. To do so, an explorative approach in combination with interviews of stakeholders were used. The results show that implementation was met with dissatisfaction by half of the participants in the study, owing to the singular aim of the tax. The other half of participants viewed the tax purpose as satisfactory. The obstacles that were identified was difficulties in distinguishing single-use from multi-use plastic carrier bags, as well as the lack of synchronization or combination with other measures. The driving forces that were identified related to the organization and communication between stakeholder, despite opportunities for improvement. One of the conclusions of the study was that policy measures like this tax should use a technocentric perspective on the environmental impact of the plastic carrier bag, in combination with a socioeconomic perspective on the needs of stakeholders.

碩士
大葉大學
資訊管理學系碩士班
107
Through the process of the action research, the purpose of the paper was to discuss whether the club members' environmental literacy and the researcher's professional development promoted after the implementation of both environmental education on the issue of plastic bag pollution, on which the researcher applied internet multimedia information, and the experience activities concerned plastic reduction. The research subjects were 26 students from a mix-grade club in a school of Ping-tung. According to the instructional objectives, the researcher divided the curriculum into three phases, which included the phase of knowledge building, the phase of experience activities, and the phase of task of plastic reduction promotion, in order to teach the club members to notice the facts of plastic bag pollution, to realize its harm and influence, and to participate the movement of reducing plastic bags. The data collected were worksheets, students’ reports, interviews with students, the observation and reflection journals, and feedbacks from students. The results show that building knowledge is essential and important for the implementation of environmental education, which helps the club members cultivate environmental literacy and make them in connection with actual actions. In addition, the experience activities improve their sensing capability and reflection, and inspire their inner intention of action. The teacher hope the members can keep reducing plastic bags, and the members should be asked to make their behaviors into a habit. The researcher not only got the abilities of using internet information and planning experience activities better but importantly got more faith and confidence in this research.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
地理學系
92
Abstract The policy - Restriction In Use of Shopping Plastic Bags, has been executed for two years in Taichung. In this thesis, the environmental attitude and behavior for this policy are studied among the public in Taichung. According to the pre-works of literature, some proposed cognitive, affective, personality, life-experience demographic behavior motivation and intention variables, are put into the factors of table to use of considering mutual influence and relation. In our research, we take account of some aspects about environmental attitude and behavior: a. The environmental behavior of the female is better than the male. It is because that the female care more about the economy than the male, and thus the less plastic shopping bags are purchased by the female in our inquiry locations. b. In the age observation, the more aged testees belong to locus of control by yourself while the younger belong to locus of control by environment for the environmental attitude. c. Those people with not higher educational background mostly believe that the environment can be improved through personal effort. d. It will be less sensitive to the environment for the people on the highest and lowest income, and, the former are more pessimistic and lower locus of control by yourself compared with others. e. The single testees’ environmental behavior in recyclable is not well like as the married; moreover, the married testees will behave better if they have kids. It is highly agreed within the testees about the cooperation with the policy can reduce the environmental pollution. People also think that the environment can be improved and they are optimistic for this strategy. However, as to the insufficient advertisement of "Restriction in Use of Plastic Shopping Bags" policy process, the policy is not evident enough for the public realization. We can find that in these stores, which are restricted by the"Restriction in Use of Plastic Shopping Bags" policy, including hypermarkets, convenience stores and ones with shop front, people use self-bags most in the hypermarkets; half and half in the convenience stores; the lowest using rate of self-bags in the stores with shop front. Nevertheless, in those stores which are not restricted by the policy, e.g., traditional markets and night markets, the lower using rate of shopping bags than restricted stores reveals that lesser people with self-bags in these locations. By the results in our research, we can conclude that the public behavior in cooperation with the policy varies with different environment, and it also indicates the pending problem in this policy in Taichung.

碩士
臺北市立大學
人文藝術學院國民小學教師在職進修公民與社會教學碩士學位班
107
With the awakening of environmental awareness, the public began to attach importance to their connection with the environment, and developed the term environmental literacy to communicate the correct environmental knowledge and practice environmental behavior through education. The Government has therefore proposed a policy of restricting the use of plastic bags and expects all people to work together to achieve sustainable development of the environment. In this study, the number of Elementary School teachers in Banqiao District, which has the largest number of New Primary Schools in New Taipei City, was used as the research area. According to the Green School Index of the Ministry of Education, three school teachers were selected as interviewees. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the connotation of environmental literacy to explore the views of the teachers in the Banqiao District on the use of plastic bags. The study found the following: 1. The board teachers in the Banqiao District will consider environmental factors and make responsible use of plastic bagging. 2. Factors affecting the use of plastic bags by small and medium-sized teachers in Banqiao District include knowledge understanding, environmental attitudes, and current situations. 3. School teachers with high participation in green schools will have different strategies to spur their own implementation of plastic reduction. Research suggestion: 1. Through the three connotations of environmental literacy, teachers can understand the views of teachers on the use of plastic bags, and can also raise the concept of public environment through literacy. 2. Restricted use of plastic bags should have relevant substitutes, government agencies should consider the implementation of policies, in order to make environmental protection more perfect. 3. The research subjects can go deep into the junior school, high school, and university professors to understand the environmental behavior of teachers in different teaching atmospheres. 4. The results of the study are limited to the environmental literacy of plastic bags, and future research can be added to other environmental issues for more extensive research to understand the different aspects of environmental literacy.

China's Minqin Oasis once welcomed traders along the ancient Silk Road with rivers, lakes, and lush forests, yet today the region's farmland and grassland are increasingly being engulfed by the sands of the Gobi Desert. The severity of this incremental catastrophe for a declining population of 300,000 residents has brought forth a host of recent water policies to include agronomic water conservation through plastic mulch use, computerized regulation and pricing of groundwater, and water diversions from the Yellow River. This study uses a multi-disciplinary and mixed methods approach to better understand farmer perspectives on why they implement certain water and land use practices in agriculture. The world's farmers currently use the majority of the world's available freshwater and arable land. Modern agriculture and its continued intensification also lead to increases in petroleum based inputs such as agrochemicals and agricultural plastics (plasticulture). Despite the large of impact of the decisions made by the world's farmers on natural resources, little research to date has sought to better understand farmers' perceptions and decision-making processes. Plastic film mulch is a technology that has existed since the 1940's and it has been used in places such as rural China for over five decades. This technology conserves a considerable amount of irrigation water and it increases harvests, however, use of plastic for mulch causes waste disposal problems and is an expenditure of petroleum through plastic manufacturing. Without a fundamental understanding of why farmers perceive plastic mulch to be valuable to their households and communities, we may not fully grasp why its global application continues to increase year after year. Moreover, a focused study of plastic mulch use at the local level may also allow researchers and entrepreneurs to develop a suitable alternative mulch that does not consume non-renewable resources or result in detrimental plastic waste after its utility has been exhausted. This study uses household level interviews, surveys, and participant observation to better understand why Minqin County farmers in rural China continue to use plastic mulch and how it may influence their standard of living.
Graduation date: 2013