In majority countries household waste, particularly from food packaging, has risen significantly. This situation can be attributed to two principal factors, and government involvement in addressing it is critical.
There are two primary reasons that can explain why there is an increase in household waste is the growing popularity of convenience foods. Specifically, nowadays, people have busy lifestyles and prefer ready-made meals and packaged food. These products usually come with multiple layers of packaging. As a result, households produce much more waste. The second, albeit equally relevant, cause would be excessive packaging by companies. To be precise, companies use packaging, especially plastic, as it is inexpensive, light and easy to produce, so many organizations prefer them over sustainable alternatives. Therefore, much of this packaging is unnecessary and thrown away.
Serious as the issue may seem, several solutions can definitely help tackle it. First of all, raising public awareness plays critical role in reducing plastic consumption. Through video announcements, campaigns can teach people to reduce, reuse and recycle. Resultatively, consumers may become more careful and switch into choosing products with less packaging. Another, albeit a little harsh, solution is governmental regulations. Introducing taxes on plastic packaging or banning certain single-use plastics can help in elimination of excessive plastic use. Accordingly, these attempts would encourage companies to use eco-friendly alternatives.
To conclude, the primary reasons behind the increase of plastic wastage can be convenient and fast foods, and excessive amount of plastic produced. In response to this situation, organizations should make society aware of consequences of using plastic constantly and authorities need to implement taxes and ban single-use items.