Plastic Bag Bans and Flooding in Third World Nations

Proponents of plastic bag bans frequently bring up severe flooding as a reason why plastic bags should be banned.  The story they tell is about the catastrophic floods that occurred in Bangladesh in 1989, where two-thirds of the country and in 1998 where three-quarters of the country was inundated.  

These incidents of flooding were subsequently blamed on plastic carryout bags by environmental groups and urban planners who estimated that 9 million plastic bags were dumped daily in the city with only about 10% being dumped into rubbish bins.  Over time these castaway plastic bags ended up clogging drains and sewers. 

But when you investigate this story with an open mind an entirely different picture emerges, where other factors were primarily responsible for the catastrophic flooding.

Bangladesh is essentially a giant flood plain where three quarters of the country is less than 30 feet above sea level.  Bangladesh is known as a land of rivers including 5 major river systems consisting of more than 700 rivers and tributaries.

The catchment basin or watershed for the Bengali rivers is located in neighboring countries and is half the size of the Mississippi River catch basin with four times the annual rainfall.  During the annual monsoon season from June to September the country is at risk of flooding because the volume of water transported by the river system increases by a factor of 20 to 5 million cubic feet per second.

During the normal monsoon season only about 18% of the country is flooded bringing with it fresh deposits of rich silt to replenish the fertile but overworked soil.  The volume of silt carried by the rivers into the Bay of Bengal each year is approximately 2.4 billion tons and builds new land along the sea front.  Thus, this great river system is not only the country’s principal resource but also its greatest hazard.

The population of Bangladesh has been estimated to about 170 million people.  The nation is considered the world’s 8^th most populous nation and 11^th in population density.  While Bangladesh boasts of being the world’s fourth largest clothing exporter it also is one of the world’s largest producers of rice, potatoes, mangos, pineapple, onions, bananas, jute and tea.  Most of Bangladesh’s population continues to live on subsistence farming in rural villages with health and education levels remaining relatively low.

In 1989, and again in 1998 catastrophic floods occurred as a result of heavy rainfall within and outside the country along with the peak flows in all five major rivers systems contributing to the flooding.  Both floods caused severe damage and loss of life. 

Environmentalists and urban planners blamed plastic bags that had blocked drains and sewers for exacerbating the flooding.  But what environmentalists fail to tell you is that in many areas of Bangladesh people live in slum like conditions.  Trash is deposited in makeshift dumps, along the road and in drainage ditches.  Drainage ditches and canals are filled with trash.  Less than 50% of all waste in urban areas is collected and disposed of in landfills.

Comparing the flooding problems in Bangladesh as a result of monsoon rains, a substandard and unmaintained flood control and waste disposal infrastructure, is simply not applicable to the situation in this country.  Similarly, comparing the improper disposal of plastic carryout bags in Bangladesh to the small amount of plastic carryout bag litter in our country is also not applicable.

In both Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties a substantial investment in infrastructure over many years has been made.  Flood Control facilities are up to standard.  100% of trash is collected and disposed in well regulated landfills.  Storm drains and/or flood control facilities are maintained on a regular schedule and trash is removed and disposed of in landfills.  

Banning of plastic carryout bags in third world nations is probably one of the easiest and less costly solutions required to solve flooding problems.  It will take decades and decades of investment to upgrade their infrastructure to prevent flooding.  For these third world countries a bag ban may be justified; whereas, for our country, it is not.

To read the entire article please visit my website: http://fighttheplasticbagbag.com and click on the Documents menu item or click the following link: http://fighttheplasticbagban.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/plastic-bags-and-third-world-nations.pdf