Plastic is increasingly showing up more in our food, clothes, and in the waters as microplastics. By 2050, emissions are expected to surmount to 2.5 million tons, a 2 million ton increase from our current standard of 7-6 hundred-thousand tons[1]. What are some possible solutions to be implemented against corporations so they can produce less plastic waste?

For one, the most economically costly solution would be to outlaw the use of plastic all-together, but this would essentially be a massive money drainer. It would be entrusted that local police would enforce this rule however as has been the case with mask and vaccine mandates, some officers and authorities will simply refuse to enforce emergency mandates, especially those for an issue as large as this. In the state of New York, for instance, deploying the national guard may be necessarily in order to enforce a no plastic law, which would be incredibly costly.

Another solution would be to place a tax on plastic, a larger and more overwhelming tax than what currently exists for plastic bags. While a better solution, this would only be slightly less economically disastrous for the country. Atleast with a tax on plastic, now the country will not need to incur losses from the payroll, maintenance, and other fees associated with a national guard or municipal police force needed to enforce a plastic ban. The revenues that come from a tax on all plastic waste can be pooled into improving resources and researching how to develop alternatives to plastic.. Read more…