Protest staged in Lahore against ban on plastic bags

LAHORE: Labourers on Tuesday staged a sit-in protest on Mall Road against the decision of the government to ban plastic shopping bags.

The protesters mostly included the working class from different shopping bags manufacturing companies.

The protesters said that the step of banning plastic shops by the government would take employment from several people.

The protesters asked that five thousand factories have been producing shopping bags in Punjab. They asked how the government can control environmental pollution with the unemployment families of 1 million.

Read: Plastic bags banned in Sindh from today

The workers also advised the authorities to devise proper laws instead of banning shopping bags. They further said that there was not even a single country that has a complete ban on the use of plastic bags. 

On the other hand, the Sindh government has banned plastic bags across the province. The local government has stated that a case would be registered against those using shopping bags.

Plastic bags are used for containing goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, chemicals, and waste. Every year, about 1 to 5 trillion plastic bags are used and discarded around the world.

Plastic bags do not only pollute our water but also our land. These bags are consumed by animals, just like in the ocean. Animals eat food wrappers, waste, and plastic bags leading to digestive problems that cause death.