Study Notes
External Costs of Pollution from Plastic
- Level:
- GCSE, AS, A-Level, IB
- Board:
- AQA, Edexcel, OCR, IB, Eduqas, WJEC
Last updated 5 Oct 2018
There is growing and widespread evidence of the damage caused by plastic pollution especially in oceans.
- One truckload of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute
- By 2050, the weight of plastic will likely outweigh that of fish
- Only a small amount of plastic is currently recycled
- Plastic marine litter disintegrates into tiny pieces and ends up in food
Around 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the sea every year, affecting the lives of so many creatures. 😢 #BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/gG1fqIDVnw
— BBC One (@BBCOne) November 19, 2017
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/subjects/economics/micro_plastic_pollution.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=800)
Examples of government policy interventions to address the problem of plastic pollution
- Banning microbeads from consumer products
- Bans on plastic cotton buds and other products
- Plastic bag charge/ tax to reduce single use bags
- Encourage businesses to develop recyclable polymers
- Provide free drinking water in cafes / restaurants / public places
- Refundable deposit schemes on plastic bottles
Market failure analysis diagram
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/subjects/economics/micro_negative_externalities_welfare_loss.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=800)
Microplastic in the ocean might be altering the brains of fish and their behavior. https://t.co/QeWkaoD4BI #plasticpollution #SaveOurOceans pic.twitter.com/aYjpHG8upm
— Ocean Generation (@oceangen_) October 11, 2017
Plastic straw and cotton bud ban proposed https://t.co/9IEZOno9v4
— BBC World Business (@BBCWorldBiz) April 19, 2018
You might also like
Development Barriers - Corruption and Conflict
Study Notes
Maximum Prices (Government Intervention)
Study Notes
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/user-photos/gbr_profile.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=100&q=80&w=100)
Natural resources - what is the sea worth?
10th May 2015
Fracking returns to the UK
16th October 2018
Government Failure - Topical Examples
Topic Videos
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/user-photos/gbr_profile.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=100&q=80&w=100)
Working Poverty, Monopsony Power and the Informal Labour Market
30th December 2022
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/user-photos/graham-watson.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=100&q=80&w=100)
Effects and Responses to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
12th October 2023