CON says
CON: "Plastic Cheaper to Produce"
It might be short term cheap, but it has long term costs on society and the environment.
CON: "Homeless Economy"
The U.S. spends $32 Billion/year on cleaning up SUP. If we ban SUP, the U.S. can spend that money on truly helping homeless.
CON says: "Use Bioplastics"
Bioplastics still perform like plastics. They're made of something different but behave the same as thermoplastics.
PRO: "Plastic expensive to produce"
The alternatives are twice as expensive to produce
PRO: "Banning SUP reduces Climate Change"
SUP Ban in the US increases climate change. A ban forces plastics to flow elsewhere to places with a lower capacity to recycle and therefore an increase in global warming.
CON: "Plastic Easier to Produce"
Plastic requires a lot of energy to produce, alternatives require less.
CON: "Emergency/Humanitarian Aid"
There are plenty of reusable and biodegradable options being used already for humanitarian aid. Banning SUP would accelerate the growth of those options.
CON: "Job Loss in the Plastics Industry"
1. Historical plastic bans haven't resulted in job loss.
2. Job loss isn't necessarily bad (funeral directors)
PRO: "Landfill Reclamation"
Landfills have toxins, you can't build on them
PRO: "Animal Deaths"
This is an issue with plastics management not plastics production. Look at Germany!
CON: "Citizen happiness"
75% of people support a ban
CON: "Alternatives to plastic are expensive"
Even if the alternatives (glass, paper, and metal) are more expensive, they're a cost savings in the long term. WWF 21: The lifetime cost to society, the environment and the economy of plastic produced in 2019 alone has been revealed at US $3.7 trillion, unless action is taken, these costs are set to double for the plastics produced in 2040 at US $7.1 trillion.
CON: "Shipping Costs"
Even if shipping gets more expensive, they're a cost savings in the long term. WWF 21: The lifetime cost to society, the environment and the economy of plastic produced in 2019 alone has been revealed at US $3.7 trillion, unless action is taken, these costs are set to double for the plastics produced in 2040 at US $7.1 trillion.
PRO: "People support bans"
Polls say what people think, not what people will do. When push comes to shove, those polls are not reflective of how people would feel about the personal impacts of a SUP ban.
PRO: "Use Glass"
Glass requires more energy to transport and discard than plastic.
CON: "Food Waste"
We can use reusable alternatives like glass or metal, look at my evidence about how that industry is growing.
CON: "Bans have historically failed"
Those bans failed because they were at the state-level, this Federal ban will solve that problem.
PRO: "Use metal"
Producing metal requires more energy than producing plastic.
PRO: "Green Consumerism"
1. This is not logical. A SUP will allow people to think they've done enough and not worry about other things. (think about a cheat meal)
2. Spillover Effect will harm rest of the world
PRO: "Use Paper"
Paper is more toxic, harder to recycle, and removes trees which help us keep climate change under control"
CON: "Medical Uses"
1. Ban doesn't apply to medical field
2. Medical field has things that are otherwise banned
3. There are plenty of reusable medical alternatives
CON: "Spillover Effect"
1. There's no market for plastics abroad, if there were companies would already have exploited it.
2. US is the largest exporter of waste. If we ban SUP in the US, there will be a net reduction of plastic pollution abroad even if there's more plastic production.
3. Developing countries have a higher recycling rate than the US so it would actually be good if plastics went abroad.
CON: "Women's Burden"
Tampons are only 6% plastic
Women can use other things that are reusable
PRO: "Petroleum Dependence/FF Lock-In"
1. Plastic is produced from the leftovers of oil production. Reducing the amount of SUP will not affect the amount of oil we produce just what we do with the leftovers. SUP prevents those leftovers from otherwise polluting the environment. Banning SUP increases pollution.
2. Alternatives to SUP contribute equally if not more to petroleum dependence.
PRO: "Microplastics Bad"
SUP Ban in the US increases microplastics worldwide. A ban forces plastics to flow elsewhere to places with a lower capacity to recycle and therefore more microplastics.