It was only recently that the government of Maharashtra put a ban on the usage, sale, storage and manufacturing of plastic.  This action was definitely necessary since plastic is non- biodegradable and causes major hazards in many biomes, natural habitats and ecosystems. I've counted down the pros and cons of this ban.

The pros of this ban are innumerable. Plastic is non- biodegradable and takes nearly 10-1000 years to decompose. So there's no point in using it in landfills as it's of no help to the soil. If plastic is banned, then its waste won't be generated. Also there will be much less damage to nature after this ban. There won't be any plastic garbage on the roads, clogging drains, and hence, no floods and less litter. Animals, birds and marine life won't be affected because they won’t be digesting or getting trapped in plastic products polluting in their habitats. The chemicals of the plastic products getting transferred into our food and water via bottles, packets & bags will cease. Burning plastic products causes the worst type of pollution and makes the air carcinogenic. The fine is between 5-25k and there is also a jail term threat to people violating the ban.

I doubt there would be anyone who would say banning plastic is a bad idea but I have made a list of some potential cons too.  The government might have done a good thing by banning plastic but they haven't given a viable alternative to use. Using paper and cutting trees is also harming the environment.  What about the effect on the environment if we use paper for everything? There will be another hole in the ozone layer, harmful and dangerous greenhouse gas effects will come into play. What about the millions of industries that are producing plastic products and the people they employ?

If one is arguing, the evils of plastic then we also include the fact that mining of iron from the Earth to manufacture metal products is damaging the crust of our planet. Similarly, coal mining is causing pollution and harming the biodiversity and biomes where the mining takes place. Coal is used to generate electricity just like plastic, but it requires more effort to get and causes lots of pollution too. Whereas, plastic is easily available and very cheap as it's a byproduct of crude oil. A company in the UK is using recycled plastic to make plastic pellets from which they are making asphalt to make roads that are cheaper. So the problem doesn't lie with plastic but the fact that the people and governments don’t know how to manage the plastic waste.

But a ban on everything made of plastic is impractical if you don’t have an alternative to it. Scientists should try to discover a material that causes less or no harm to the environment.. There is a substitute of biodegradable plastic made from plants but it is expensive. Scientists in USA and Britain have accidently engineered an enzyme, which eats plastic and may eventually help solve the growing problem of plastic pollution. This discovery will make it possible to fully recycle plastic bottles.

The situation is that people are taking and wasting plastic and throwing it anywhere without giving consideration to recycling or reusing the same. And the government is not doing enough to educate the public of correct disposal and usage of plastic. Both the people and the government is shifting blame and not willing to take responsibility of their actions. I would just like to end by quoting something that had a great impact on me: 'The greatest threat to our environment is the belief that someone else will save it'