List of Legislations

Hello all!

If you recall, my first entry was inspired by a legislation implemented back at home that was not well-received by some. Since then, I have come across recommendations by several authors for the reduction of plastic waste and I have collated them in this post, categorised by the familiar terms of mitigation measures (see Table 1) and adaptation measures after plastic has emerged within the Earth system (see Table 2).

Table 1: Mitigation measures through reducing supply or demand of plastics.

Mitigation Measures	Methods	Description/Example
↓ Supply	Prohibition	- Ban single-use carrier plastic bag production. - Ban the use of plastic containers.
	Pay-as-you-throw taxation	- Charge tax on manufacturers.
↓ Demand	Plastic bag charge	- Decrease usage by consumers.
	Alternative materials	- Paper bags and cotton bags to replace plastic bags. - Non-plastic exfoliating substances to replace microbeads.
	Expanding use of plastic	- Increase life of plastic by enhancing reusability and durability (circular plastic economy), reducing overall demand.
	Public awareness campaigns	- Discourage use of plastic consumption.

Reduction of negative externalities in adaptation measures can come in the form of preventing their output into coastlines, oceans and sewage systems, or by extending the social benefits from plastic bags.

Table 2: Adaptation measures through reducing negative externalities arising from plastic bags.

Adaptation Measures	Methods	Description/Example
↓ -ve externalities	Legal frameworks to prevent dumping	- UNCLOS 1982 - International Convention for Preventation of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) - Convention on Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) 1972
	Beach and waterway cleans before discharge	- The Plastic Bank. - Volunteer beach cleans.
	Technology to clean up water bodies	- The Ocean Cleanup (1, 2) - Seabins (blog post by fellow colleague) - Remora.
	Technology to prevent discharge of plastics	- Guppy Friend preventing microplastic fragments from fleece
	Technology to boost recycling	- Agylix - BioCellection - CadelDeinking - Separatec
	Energy recovery from plastics via incineration	- Increase social benefits, but done in conjunction with development of C capture and storage to balance trade-off with greenhouse gas emissions.

As with climate change, both types of approaches are needed. I will conclude this entry here after several weeks of relatively longer posts, and I will elaborate on these legislations and their usefulness as mentioned previously in the following weeks.

See you next week!