Bag Policies Research Articles

Pengaruh Green Marketing Communication terhadap Green Behaviour (Studi Kasus Pemberdayaan Penggunaan Kantong Plastik pada konsumen Alfamart di Kota Bandung)

Plastic waste is a major problem in environmental pollution, both on land and at sea. Indonesia is ranked second in producing plastic waste in the world's oceans. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry stated that plastic waste generated from 100 retail stores or members of the Indonesian Retailers Association (APRINDO) reached 10.95 million pieces of plastic waste within one year. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) created a paid plastic bag policy to address the plastic waste problem. The aim of this research is to determine the influence of green marketing communication on green behavior regarding empowering the use of plastic bags among Alfamart consumers. The data collection technique used was purposive sampling which is included in non-probability sampling with a total of 100 respondents who had used paid plastic bags at Alfamart in Bandung City aged 17 years and over. The empirical data in this research was collected using a one-shot study approach and then processed and analyzed using simple regression using SPSS version 26. The results of the research show that green marketing communication has a positive effect on green behavior. Therefore, Alfamart management can prioritize improving all the indicators that make up green marketing communication because it is hoped that this can have a positive impact on green behavior.

Impact of Policy Design on Plastic Waste Reduction in Africa

Single-use plastic (SUP) is an important product group in plastic pollution with various measures managing it within its lifecycle. Africa has the highest single-use plastic bag (SUPB) policy adoption by region globally, but the plastic problem persists, raising policy design concerns on effectiveness. This paper explores plastic policy design on plastic waste reduction in Africa. Using gap analysis and integrative propositional analysis, the status, scope, and variability of policies are assessed against a reference model. There are 48 active policies in 39 of the 55 countries in Africa. Of these, three countries have transitioned from plastic bag bans to SUP policies to manage more plastic products, and two countries have transitioned from SUPB charges to SUPB bans. There are 12 packaging policies, 29 bag policies, 2 bottle policies, 1 utensil and polystyrene boxes policy, and 1 straw policy. Themed SUP and packaging policies loosely cover plastic products. Four of the nine packaging policies analyzed are SUPB policies by design, as they explicitly mention the control of bags rather than primary packaging. Sixteen policies are designed for biodegradability restrictions, while ten policies are total bans on single-use plastic products. The lack of definitions and coherence and provision of exemptions in policies result in plastic waste traceable from exemptions, in-policy, undefined SUP, out-of-policy SUP, and non-SUP sources. The use of different policy mix instruments to manage plastic within its lifecycle was identified in African countries. The design of new policies should consider these shortcomings to enhance plastic waste management by explicitly identifying products and outlining management measures for excluded plastic products within the same plastic group for SUP or packaging policies in the absence of a global or regionally binding plastic policy.

Housewives' Behavior Towards the Use of Plastic Bags in North Tapanuli, North Sumatra

Excessive use of plastic bags adversely affects health and the environment based on their hard-to-decompose nature. The increase in the number of plastic bag use is strongly influenced by population growth and changes in people's lifestyles, especially in shopping patterns among housewives, besides that government policies related to the Covid pandemic have triggered an increase in the use of plastic bags. This analytical observational research aims to determine the relationship between knowledge and attitudes of housewives towards the use of plastic bags in Pasar Siborongborong Village, North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, with a cross-sectional research design with an accidental sampling method. Interviews were conducted with 95 housewives. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test with CI:95%. The results of research on the use of plastic bags by housewives showed that 57.9% of the knowledge level of housewives in the good category, 64.2% of housewives' attitudes in the category were not good and 77.9% of the use of plastic bags in housewives was not good. The results of the Chi-Square test analysis showed that there was no meaningful relationship between the level of knowledge of housewives towards the use of plastic bags. (p.value: 0.864). On the other hand, there is a significant relationship between the attitude of housewives towards the use of plastic bags and the p.value: 0.010. Knowledge about the use and dangers caused by plastic bags can be done through socialization with the public, including through advertisements on television and social media. The implementation of restrictions on the use of plastic bags through the paid plastic bag policy at supermarkets is felt to have not been optimal in an effort to reduce the use of plastic bags.

Go Green and Recycle: Analyzing the Usage of Plastic Bags for Shopping in China.

The extensive usage of plastic bags has caused detrimental environmental damage, and an influx of research efforts have been undertaken to reduce people’s usage of plastic bags. However, studies regarding people’s reuse of plastic bags are still scarce. Therefore, this study is motivated to bridge this research gap by examining the determinants of old plastic bag usage and consumers’ maximum willingness to pay price for plastic carrier bags via a semi-structured online survey on a random sample of 777 Chinese consumers. Descriptive summary, KW test, and logistic regression were used to identify potential determinants and their influence on consumers’ usage of old plastic bags. The findings indicate that consumers’ age, altruistic values, and their perceived plastic ban effectiveness are positively associated with the usage of old plastic bags. Specifically, the elder and altruistic consumers who are positive for plastic ban effectiveness are more likely to reuse old plastic bags. Furthermore, when plastic carrier bags are priced at RMB 2.0, 81.2% of the surveyed consumers say they will stop buying them. Based on the pricing setting experience from the Irish plastic bag policy, we suggest that the optimal price of plastic carrier bags is RMB 12.0, which is also six times of the consumer’s maximum willingness to pay price.

Retailer Volunteerism as a Plastic Shopping Bag Governance Tool: Shoppers’ Reflections and Contributions to Environmental Social Marketing

Introduction The pollution of landscapes and coastal environments with plastic shopping bag litter is an escalating global problem. The introduction of plastic bag tax aimed at addressing this challenge achieved limited success in South Africa. This study explores South African shoppers’ perceptions towards social marketing anchored retailer voluntary initiatives, which is an emerging plastic bag policy option. Literature Adverse environmental and social effects of plastic shopping bags are discussed. Retailer voluntary initiatives used to de-market plastic shopping bags, including jurisdictions where they were implemented, are also reviewed. The focus is on retailer anti-plastic bag initiatives such as ‘reusable shopping bags’ and ‘plastic bag-free’ shops. Methods This study is situated within a constructivist research paradigm and a qualitative methodology. Data were collected from a sample of 31 grocery shoppers recruited from retailer outlets in South Africa’s metropolitan cities, Johannesburg and Pretoria. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore shoppers’ perceptions towards retailer-driven anti-plastic bag voluntary initiatives. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse interview data. Findings The findings of this study highlight shoppers’ negative perceptions towards retailer anti-plastic bag voluntary initiatives. Shoppers perceived retailer anti-plastic bag voluntary initiatives as forms of green capitalism, green entrepreneurship, symbolic corporate social responsibility, strategic business posture, commandeered green consumerism, measured environmental morality, masked green washing and calculated pre-emptive behaviour. Future studies may seek to extend the generalisability of these findings by using a larger sample size. Conclusion The study’s findings highlight the trust deficit associated with retailer anti-plastic bags voluntary initiatives and the importance of enhancing market acceptance and legitimacy. Mistrust and cynicism directed towards retailer anti-plastic bag voluntary initiatives point to the importance of consumer education aimed at emphasising the negative effects of single-use plastic shopping bags. This study concludes that reliance on retailer self-regulation may not be the best approach to solve the escalating problem of plastic bag litter. We argue that national governments need to implement interventions that strike a balance between environmental sustainability and economic development.

The Effect of Attitude of FKM UMJ Students on The Use of Paid Plastic Bags in 2021

Plastic, particularly plastic bags, is an object that cannot be separated from everyday life. Plastic bags can be used as a wrapper and to transport luggage or groceries, among other things. The use of plastic bags is out of control as a result of the practice of giving them out for free. As a result, better management is required to limit the usage of plastic bags, one of which is the establishment of a paid plastic bag policy. The goal of this study was to see how FKM UMJ students' opinions influenced their use of paid plastic bags in 2021. In June 2021, a qualitative investigation was done as part of this research. In-depth interviews and document reviews were used to acquire data. Purposive sampling was used to choose students from the FKM UMJ Class of 2019 as informants for this investigation. Based on the research that has been done, it is found that the influence of the attitude of FKM UMJ students towards the use of paid plastic bags is positive and supports government policies regarding this matter. So it's time for us to take wise steps in using single-use plastic bags.

ANALYSIS OF ZERO PLASTIC BAG POLICY EFFECT ON GREEN BEHAVIOUR WITH STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING (SEM) METHOD

Plastic bag is a product that is very often used in everyday life. Plastic bags are one of the biggest contributors to the volume of waste in Indonesia. Therefore, a policy related to the use of plastic bags is called a zero plastic bag. This policy requires plastic bag users to switch to using environmentally friendly bags. This study was conducted to analyze the effect of the zero platic bag policy on Makassar City community behavior related to the environment or green behavior if this policy is applied in the City of Makassar. To determine the effect of the zero plastic bag policy on people's behavior patterns about the environment using the SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) method. Initial identification was carried out by distributing questionnaires to respondents using plastic bags, especially retail consumers in Makassar City. The questionnaire contained green behavior variables which consisted of five variables. Then the results of data collection using a questionnaire are processed using descriptive analysis and then look for the effect of zero plastic bag policies on green behavior using the SEM method. The results of the identification of the influence of zero plastic bag policy based on four variables namely environmental knowledge, environmental attitude, green advertising, and green consumption on green behavior are that of the four variables that have a positive influence on green behavior are environmental attitude, green advertising, and green consumption . The results of this study can be used as policy input and see how effective this policy is when applied in Makassar City.

Ban the (plastic) bag? Explaining variation in the implementation of plastic bag bans in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda

The environmental damage that plastic waste is causing has catalyzed government action against plastic bags around the world. Despite anti-plastic bag policies gaining traction globally, there has been limited investigation of why the implementation of bans has varied. The variation in implementing bans is particularly stark in East Africa, a region that has been at the forefront of plastic bag legislation. Rwanda’s implementation of a ban on plastic bags in 2008 has attracted widespread praise for its environmental leadership. Kenya adopted a plastic bag ban before Rwanda but implementation was consistently delayed until a stringent ban was finally imposed in 2018. In Uganda, despite bans being announced on four separate occasions, implementation continues to be delayed. This paper explains why some governments adopt and effectively enforce plastic bag bans while others reverse course or delay implementation. Existing literature has cited the comparative strength of plastic industries as the salient factor in explaining varied adoption of plastic bag bans. This paper argues that though the comparative business power of plastic industries explains whether bans are obstructed, it does not satisfactorily explain varied implementation. Instead, countries that pursue services-based development strategies, which prioritise externally dependent sectors like tourism, are more likely to implement plastic bag bans, which can help bolster their green credentials. For the Rwandan and Kenyan governments, presenting their countries as environmental leaders contributed to their goals of becoming a regional economic hub, reliant on services like tourism. The Kenyan government’s decision to eventually implement the ban was driven by a perceived need to compete with Rwanda for regional environmental leadership while supporting Kenya’s services-based economic development strategy. In contrast, Uganda’s comparatively larger discovery of oil and limited emphasis on services-based development explained the government’s lack of commitment to implementing a plastic bag ban.

The effects of a green nudge on municipal solid waste: Evidence from a clear bag policy

We explore the power of behavioral economic insights to influence the level of households’ recycling and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) by examining the effectiveness of a green nudge, the adoption of a Clear Bag Policy that was implemented in 2015 in a mid-size urban municipality in Canada. Using a Regression Discontinuity (RD) Design on universe administrative data, our analysis shows that this green nudge promoted recycling, and reduced both refuse and total MSW. While recycling increased by 15 percent, total MSW decreased by 27 percent overall between August 2015 and July 2017. Our results also demonstrate heterogeneity in response to a Clear Bag Policy across neighborhoods with varying socioeconomic indicators. Our findings suggest that green nudges can serve as effective policy instruments in devising future environment policies.

A study on consumer consciousness and behavior to the plastic bag ban in Kenya

Single use plastics pose environmental and socioeconomic problems in our life and ecosystems. After a 14 year attempt, Kenya successfully adopted a plastic bag ban for secondary packaging in August 2017. Globally, the impact of plastic bag policies are limited or not documented. Using a questionnaire survey, this study explored consumer consciousness towards the ban, reusable bag usage behavior, and estimated plastic bag consumption before the ban. Results indicate that the ban has favorable support of about 67% from consumers. The perceptions towards cleanliness and waste management were different between urban and rural respondents. This highlighted differences in awareness creation and enforcement of the ban. Behaviorally, ownership of reusable bags tripled to 12 bags per household. Plastic reusable bags were the most owned and most discarded bags within 6 months. Moreover, a report estimates that 300 million bags (8.3–6.7 bags person−1 y−1) were consumed annually in 2005 and 2017 before the ban, the current study estimates the ban potential eliminates about 6.2 billion bags (138 bags capita−1 y−1) from the waste stream. It is thus important to incorporate usage frequency, reusable bags standards, waste and health factors in policy formulation. Proper usage of reusable bags prevents waste and lowers their environmental burden.

Indonesia: Paid Plastic Bag Policy: Its Concept and Relevance to Pollution-Levy Principles

This research aims to determine and analyse the categories of levies in the paid plastic bag policy in Indonesia, and its relevance to pollution levies. Based on analysis, this research comes to the following conclusion: the paid plastic bags policy in Indonesia cannot be categorised as a tax or charge. The main characteristics of taxes or charges are not contained in the policy of paid plastic bags, especially in terms of the legal relationship between the parties. Paying for plastic bags fits in much better with the general concept of a pollution levy. In the context of imposing a cost on consumers, the relevance of this policy to pollution-levy principles could be seen from the attainable objective, namely altering consumer behaviour through pricing. This study contributes to current global literature in the field of the use of the levy concept in the paid plastic bag policy and its relevance to pollution abatement principles.

The effectiveness of the non-free plastic bag policy to reduce plastic waste in the community of Padang

The waste generation of Padang City at the Final Processing Site (TPA) is 495.50 tons/day, and the amount of unmanaged waste is 62.42 tons/day, of which 40% is plastic waste. Efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags have begun in Padang, referring to Perwaliko number 36 of 2018. Shopping centers and modern stores must use plastic shopping bags that meet SNI no later than December 31, 2020, especially in various retail and contemporary shopping centers. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the effectiveness of plastic use policies and the decrease in the use of plastic bags in people who shop at modern retailers in Padang City. This type of research is quantitative with a cross-sectional design. The number of samples is 116 respondents who shop at modern shopping centers, namely Matahari Dept. Store, Food Mart Padang, Ramayana Padang and SPAR Padang. Data analysis used univariate and bivariate analysis. The results showed that 46.6% of respondents stated that the plastic bag policy was not adequate, and 46.6% of respondents stated that there was no reduction in plastic bags. There is a significant relationship between the effectiveness of the plastic bag policy and the decrease in the use of plastic bags in the people of Padang City (p=0,029). With this paid plastic bag policy, government, retailers, and the public will be more concerned with the environment.

The Understanding and Purchase Decision of Environmentally Friendly Products Based on Gender

The paid plastic bag policy is an effort to train the community to help lessen the use of plastic and switch to different products such as cardboard or recycled packaging bags as some mini markets do. Those who do not consider environmentally friendly products describe that they are people who do not understand the environment. The purpose of this research is wanting obtain information on the knowledge of products environmentally friendly on gender (male / female) of the decision the purchase. The study is done in jakarta and its surroundings.In this study, sample divided into categories consumers consumers men and women, employees and manager location, the number of members sample each category at least 30. The research method used in this study is mixed methods. The target population in this study is a minimarket that has run a paid plastic program in Jakarta. Analysis of the data used in this study uses two approaches, namely, a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach. The results of this study indicate that there is no difference between understanding and purchasing decisions that men and women have regarding environmentally friendly products.
 Keywords: environment understanding, purchase decision, gender, green products

Overview of Legal and Policy Framework Approaches for Plastic Bag Waste Management in African Countries.

Plastic bag waste is a major challenge in several African countries. As a way of reducing the detrimental effects posed by plastic bags, governments have adopted various approaches for plastic bag waste management that include levies, bans and or the combination of the two. Despite the adoption of anti-plastic bag policies in several African countries, there has been limited investigation regarding their effectiveness. Thus, the present paper reviews the effectiveness of legal and policy framework approaches for plastic bag waste management in African countries. This systematic review covers legal and policy framework approaches for plastic bag waste management in African countries since 2004 with a view to find their effectiveness. Data sources included peer-reviewed journal articles, websites, books, reports, and dissertations. The databases from which literature was retrieved included Elsevier, Taylor, Springer, institutional repository, and Google Scholar. The current paper argues that poorly enforced plastic bag legislation, resistance from stakeholders, and limited effective substitutes are major factors hindering effective plastic bag waste management in Africa. A six-step model developed by Patton and Sawicki assisted in evaluating plastic bag policies in varied African nations. The study concluded that the key to effective legislation is hinged on consistent enforcement and educating the public to attain environmental buy-in. African countries should adopt and implement the Patton and Sawicki six-step rationalist model to achieve effective plastic bag legislation. African governments should enlighten consumers about other alternatives that are more specific to African countries, especially bags made of raffia and leaves. The findings are limited in that there may be other relevant articles (beyond published articles) about policy and legal approaches for plastic bag waste management, which are not available in the public domain. Therefore, data reviewed may not be exhaustible.

Religiosity and Environmentally Friendly Behavior of Millennial Muslim Consumers

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of attitudes, subjective norms and religiosity on consumer intentions to support government policies on environmentally friendly behaviour. Based on a direct survey of 100 Muslim student respondents then analyzed using multiple linear regression, it was found that attitudes, subjective norms and religiosity as determinants of Muslim consumer intentions in supporting government policies on environmentally friendly behaviour, namely paid plastic bag policies. Finally, an important finding from this study is the contribution of subjective norms as the dominant determinant that influences the Muslim consumer's intention to support government policies to behave in an environmentally friendly manner by being willing to support a paid plastic bag policy.

An Environmental Study on the Paid Plastic Bag Use Policy in the city of Semarang

Indonesia is the second largest contributor of plastic waste in the ocean. The initiative of the central government through KLHK in reducing the generation of plastic waste is to launch a paid plastic bag policy. This policy is regulated by a circular issued by KLHK to local governments and business actors. The purpose of this study is to analyse the implementation of policies, analyse consumer behaviour and analyse the supporting and inhibiting factors in the paid plastic bag policy which is applied in the city of Semarang. The approach used in this study is a qualitative approach. Data collection uses primary and secondary data. The results showed that the paid plastic bag policy had the support of the local government, businesses and consumers. Various efforts have been made as a form of support to reduce waste generation in accordance with the objectives of this policy. Although consumers know and support this policy, it does not change consumer behaviour much. They still use plastic bags from retail when they finish shopping. Consumers have no objections to paying IDR 200. This policy does not bring many significant changes in consumer behaviour in using new plastic bags, despite the tendency of consumers to know the impact of plastic bag waste if it is not managed properly. Consumers still seem indifferent in considering plastic bag waste as an urgent waste priority. So that this policy is still less effective in changing consumer behaviour.

The Effects of a Green Nudge on Municipal Solid Waste: Evidence from a Clear Bag Policy

We explore the power of behavioral economic insights to influence the level of households' recycling and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) by examining the effectiveness of a green nudge, the adoption of a Clear Bag Policy that was implemented in 2015 in a mid-size urban municipality in Canada. Using a Regression Discontinuity (RD) Design on universe administrative data, our analysis shows that this green nudge promoted recycling, and reduced both refuse and total MSW. While recycling increased by 15 percent, total MSW decreased by 27 percent overall between August 2015 and July 2017. Our results also demonstrate heterogeneity in response to a Clear Bag Policy across neighborhoods with varying socioeconomic indicators. Our findings suggest that green nudges can serve as effective policy instruments in devising future environment policies.

Potentiality of biomass-nuclear hybrid system deployment scenario: Techno-economic feasibility perspective in South Korea

Since the increasing energy demands and waste management are national concerns for the South Korean government, this study introduces a biomass-nuclear hybrid system that can be a new alternative to solve the problems. This system is considered to take refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced from waste biomass, such as municipal solid waste and residue from the agricultural sector to produce artificial diesel fuel from synthesis gas, generated by endothermic pyrolytic gasification using over 600 °C of exterior thermal heat from the Generation-IV gas-cooled reactor. 0.52 MJ/kg of endothermic heat obtained by the experiment is required to process biomass by nuclear power. When the system ducted with 500 MWth nuclear reactor is deployed in South Korea, optimization of the system considering target waste generation shows that annual 2000 ton of diesel and 205 MWe of net power can be achieved processing 12,000 ton/day of RDF. The RDF production cost is 7.04 $/ton as Volume-Based Waste Fee bag policy in South Korea can help to decrease production cost. RDF cost impacts the diesel production cost at 0.53 $/liter. It is found that CO2 reduction potential is calculated total 257 million tCO2 for 30-year operation of the system from 2020 to 2049.

A Mixed Bag: The Hidden Time Costs of Regulating Consumer Behavior

The non-monetary costs consumers experience from regulations are challenging to quantify, and thus easily overlooked. Using quasi-experimental policy variation and high-frequency supermarket data, this paper identifies previously hidden time costs from policies that ban or tax the use of disposable carryout bags. Bag policies disrupt checkout procedures, causing a 3% increase in supermarket checkout duration. Given the capacity-constrained queueing system of supermarket checkout, the slowdown of individual customers compounds into congestion larger than the individual slowdown during peak shopping hours. These hassle costs do not disappear over time, and instead, persist at least two years after policy implementation. Customers are also sensitive to these costs, with a one-minute increase in average checkout duration leading to a 1.2% drop in the likelihood customers return to the store in subsequent weeks. The results show ignoring time costs, as well as institutional constraints, overstates the welfare gains from policy-induced behavioral change.

Developing Countries in the Lead—What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?

While diffusion patterns are quite well understood in the context of the Global North, diffusion research has only been applied to a limited extent to investigate how policies spread across developing countries. In this article, we therefore analyze the diffusion patterns of plastic bag bans and plastic bag taxes in the Global South and Global North to contribute to the further refinement of diffusion theory by specifically addressing the under-researched Global South. Moreover, with an in-depth investigation of plastic bag policies through the lens of diffusion research, the article provides insights in the rather new and still underexplored policy field of plastic pollution. We find that industrialized countries have mostly adopted plastic bag taxes, while developing countries have mainly introduced plastic bag bans and thus more stringent legislation than countries in the Global North. So far, the key driving force for the diffusion of plastic bag policies in the Global North has been the global public pressure. In the Global South, where plastic bag litter is much more visible and harmful due to limited waste collection and recycling rates, national problem pressure has been much more influential.