Anti-Plastics Campaign in Isfahan: Propaganda or the Real Thing?

The city of Isfahan has launched a campaign to replace plastic bags with canvas ones in a bid to cut down on waste and raise awareness about recycling. Photographs and news about the “No to Plastics” campaign have found a receptive audience across social media, though some people have raised doubts as to the motivation behind the scheme. Some residents say they don't believe the municipal government is really committed to combating waste, and argue that local government officials have embarked on the project to boost their image. 

Most of the photographs circulated on social media were taken on July 11, which campaigners dubbed International Plastic Bag-Free Day. 

According to Isfahanis, apart from on the specified day, only the city government-run chain stores have tended to follow the initiative on a regular basis, handing out canvas bags with Isfahan Municipality logos on them. Even though all shops have yet to take on the idea, campaigners say at the least the initiative is catching people’s attention. 

The director of Isfahan Waste Management says that, out of 1,000 tons of waste collected in a day, 150 tons is some sort of plastic good. “This campaign will surely have some effect, but up to now it has not made much of a difference in the wide use of plastic bags,” he said.

Prior to this, the provincial capital of Ardabil in northwestern Iran launched a similar campaign. The initiative, “No, Thanks! I Don’t Want Plastic Bags,” was organized in conjunction with the Free Islamic University. There are also reports that Rasht, the capital of the northern province of Gilan, will join in and launch the campaign there. Tehran Municipality official Reza Madadi says that plans are underway to replace plastic bags with recyclable ones in fruit and fresh produce markets and stores in western Tehran.

Reza, a citizen of Isfahan, praised the July campaign and its goal, though he is skeptical about its long-term impact.“The project has been put into action only in stores run by the municipality and no others,” he said. “A few days ago I went to the city government building to take care of some business and I was surprised to see lots of plastic goods being used there, even though the municipal officials are supposed to be the custodians of this campaign. I am worried that, like other things run by them, this is going to be an exercise in propaganda and just a temporary measure.”

Reza said that that in Isfahan, popular movements for protecting the environment are now better organized than they have been previously, but that most of them have a strong “kick-off” without any continuity. “There don’t appear to be any plans,” he said. “Take these canvas bags for example. They are offered only in one size and sometimes you need tens of these bags for a simple shop. Besides, you see them mostly in the center of the city; in the outskirts they disappear.”

It is estimated that on average every household in Iran consumes three plastic bags per day. Environmental activists say they have been trying to persuade the Oil Ministry not to provide companies with the raw material for manufacturing plastic bags and disposable utensils. Instead, they call for manufacturers to produce biodegradable utensils, plates and bags. So far they have been unsuccessful.

Biodegradable utensils contain no toxic ingredients and, once disposed of, decompose within in a few months. Materials commonly used for biodegradable products include corn, grains or potato; their by-products can be used as cattle feed. Tehran City Council Member Masoumeh Abad says that if each day, every Iranian citizen uses one less plastic bag, it would amount to 7,000 tons less plastic produced and used each year.

Charitable Intentions, Harmful Results

As the holy month of Muharram begins — of great significance to Shia Muslims in particular — attention turns to the more vulnerable people in communities. Bringing food to those in need means greater use of plastic bags and disposable utensils. Two years ago, Iran’s Cooperative Union of Handicrafts and Plastics Manufacturers reported that the consumption of plastics and plastic utensils and dishes in Iran is around 200,000 tons per month — but during Muharram this number rises by 30 percent. The fact that disposable polystyrene dishes cannot withstand a temperature above 60 degrees centigrade and food heated up on these dishes can pose a health risk does not seem to have any impact on the widespread use of the goods.

Plastic bags, of course, are an international concern. Experts refer to the “plastics economy” when discussing the problem, and according to a report published in January at the World Economic Forum at Davos, there will be more plastic goods than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050. The report states that every year “at least 8 million tons of plastics leak into the ocean – which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050.”

The reports points out that only 14 percent of plastic bags in the world are recycled, while around 60 percent of paper and more than 90 percent of metals are recycled. Iran ranks among the top eight waste-producing countries in the world, and its consumption of plastic bags is higher than the international average.

In Europe and some parts of the United States, stores charge customers somewhere between 15 to 50 cents for a plastic bag, so shoppers are encouraged to bring in durable plastic or canvas bags for shopping. This experiment has been reasonably successful — and Iran can learn from it.

Shiva, a resident of Isfahan who approves of the idea behind the campaign, has a simpler suggestion. “Perhaps the best way to establish [the habit of] using canvas bags would be making them compulsory at certain businesses,” she said. “For example, bookstores and drugstores that have many customers should be required to use canvas bags. This way people get used to using them.”