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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon 1 FBSPT3 FORM Faculty of Business Studies TMA Cover Sheet Lebanon Branch Second First Semester 2009 – 2010 Academic Year 2 1 TMA No. T306B Course No. I. Student Information (to be completed by the student) ……..Houry Awedis Hassarjian………………………………………………… Student Name ………315………... Section No. ….8576…………… Student No. [email protected]……………………………………………….….... E-Mail I hereby certify that the work presented in this TMA is my own and is not copied from any source. …03. / …May. / 2010 Date of Submission …………………………………… Signature Q3 Q2 Q1 Questions Total 20 10 70 Weight Allocated Marks Marks ١٠٠ Total E-Library Word Count Referencing Presentation Criteria Allocated Marks Marks Student's Total Mark ١٠٠ I. Tutor's Comments …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Tutor’s Name ………………………………………………………… …….. / ……. / 20 Date Returned …………………………………… Signature

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Page 1: Faculty of Business Studies - AOU-Lebanonaou.edu.lb/OnlineServices/Preface/1130.pdfHoury Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon

Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 

FBS‐PT3 

F O R M 

Faculty of Business Studies 

TMA Cover Sheet 

Lebanon Branch

 Second □ First Semester 2009 – 2010 Academic Year

 2 □ 1 TMA No. T306B Course No. 

I. Student Information (to be completed by the student) ……..Houry Awedis Hassarjian………………………………………………… Student Name

………315………... Section No. ….8576…………… Student No.

[email protected]……………………………………………….….... E-Mail

I hereby certify that the work presented in this TMA is my own and is not copied from any source.

…03. / …May. / 2010 Date of Submission …………………………………… Signature

Q3 Q2 Q1 Questions Total

20 10 70 Weight

Allocated Marks

Marks ١٠٠

Total E-Library Word Count Referencing Presentation Criteria Allocated Marks

Marks

Student's Total Mark ١٠٠

I. Tutor's Comments

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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Tutor’s Name …………………………………………………………

…….. / ……. / 20 Date Returned …………………………………… Signature

Page 2: Faculty of Business Studies - AOU-Lebanonaou.edu.lb/OnlineServices/Preface/1130.pdfHoury Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon

Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY 

FACULTY OF BUSINESS STUDIES 

Lebanon Branch 

 

T306. Managing Complexity: a systems approach 

 

Project Title 

Saving the Earth from the Massive use of Plastic Bags 

Final Project Presented by 

 

Student Name: Houry Awedis Hassarjian 

Supervisor: Dr. Rima Rouhana 

Spring 2010  

Page 3: Faculty of Business Studies - AOU-Lebanonaou.edu.lb/OnlineServices/Preface/1130.pdfHoury Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon

Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 

Acknowledgment

Some emotional words from the bottom of my heart to the lovely people I had the chance to be friends with work with. Grateful thanks to the AOU for allowing me to continue my higher education with the level provided by the university itself. The past 3 years were one of a kind which will never come back again. Let’s make use of this paper to appreciate the AOU for providing us with the tools, techniques and methods for us to have the knowledge to work and solve such a complex situation. The course T306 was and is an amazing course, we got to know all about systems and how to be part of a system, how to solve and resolve a given problem using the methods and applying the BECM being a good System Practitioner.

Gigantic credit for Dr. Rima Rouhana for understanding and being there for us whenever we needed her throughout her teaching year in this university, having the time to answer the questions we had whether they were miner, huge and essential questions. Thanks for the enthusiasm and motivation by which you supported us with. Before going in details in this Project, please allow me to dedicate this Project to my beloved parents, without their outstanding understanding and support, I had the time and will to continue my studies in AOU, through everything they were standing still and being there for me. I would never ever forget their gratitude in my life.

In fact; I do occupy a job position as an executive secretary in a huge production

company which produces all sorts of plastic bags. Working on this paper made me realize the importance of plastic bags in our daily life. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who stood by me, who had the time and ability to help me out whichever the approach was. An appreciation goes to my colleagues at work, Mr. Ara Robin, Miss Liwana Rihani, and Mr. Paul Banikian, Mrs. Elyssar Hindi, Miss Lina Hadchiti and Miss Siham Hasbani with their help I had the time to work on my paper and make it to class on time. My Boss Mr. Ara Bedirian and The Human Resources Manager Mrs. Hasmig Bezdigian for the considerate and the push they gave for me to work on my paper and finish it on time.

To my friends outside the University, thank you for understanding the stress I was

going through the past weeks, due to this final project I had to submit. For my entire classmate; good luck with your finals, and may every single one of you find the success he/she deserves, nothing comes easy we should work on it so that the outcome would be as expected. I would like to thank Miss Swaleen Abboud and Miss Rana Richana, Mr. Rodrique Kozhaya, Mr. Jad Harb and Mr. Maher Yaman, for their continuous efforts. My fellow classmates; this is our last paper we’re working on, and the wide horizon is finally opened for us.

Another thanks goes for you my readers, hope after reading this paper, you could help me help our environment keeping it cleaner and greener. After all this is our house we’re polluting, we should think Sustainability or else we will not have a place to sleep, walk, eat and hang out. Think about it, we do not inherit Land; we borrow it from our children!!!

Page 4: Faculty of Business Studies - AOU-Lebanonaou.edu.lb/OnlineServices/Preface/1130.pdfHoury Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon

Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 

Table of Contents:  

Acknowledgments __________________________________________________________3 Table of Contents___________________________________________________________4 Preface ___________________________________________________________________5 Ethicality Statement _________________________________________________________6 Case Study_________________________________________________________________7 Difference between SSM/HSM/VSM___________________________________________________________10 BECM balls_______________________________________________________________11 TUTOR REPORT: Description of the complex situation of Plastic bags_______________________________12 Rich Picture___________________________________________________________________15 SWOT Analysis__________________________________________________________________17 CATWOE Checklist ________________________________________________________18 Relevant root definition_____________________________________________________ 19 Comparison between CM/Rich Picture_________________________________________ 22 Agenda__________________________________________________________________ 23 Debating with Stakeholders__________________________________________________ 23 Implementation___________________________________________________________ 23 Log Frame_______________________________________________________________ 24 Client Report_____________________________________________________________ 25 Project Log_______________________________________________________________ 26 Reference:________________________________________________________________27 Appendix_____________________________________________________________ 28- 30 Figures: Figure 1: Stakeholder’s list__________________________________________________ 10 Figure 2: System Map_ _____________________________________________________ 14 Figure 3: Spray Diagram____________________________________________________ 15 Figure 4: Rich Picture_______________________________________________________16 Figure 5: Multiple Cause diagram______________________________________________20 Figure 6: Spray Diagram about the effects_______________________________________ 20 Figure 7: Conceptual Model __________________________________________________21 Figure 8: Preferred Option ___________________________________________________24

 

 

 

 

Page 5: Faculty of Business Studies - AOU-Lebanonaou.edu.lb/OnlineServices/Preface/1130.pdfHoury Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima Rouhana Spring 10 AOU Lebanon

Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 Preface:

Solid waste management is becoming a major public health and environmental concern in urban areas of many developing countries. People do value their health and that of their children, economic security and happiness. Sustainability is about meeting basic human needs and wants; without compromising the needs of the future generations. These are primarily elements essential to maintain a basic quality of life according to Maslow’s hierarchy. One of the important aspects of waste management is plastic bags. Many people ignore the fact that most plastics are made from petroleum (oil or natural gas) and also do contain a whole host of other chemicals that are never labeled and that can be toxic to animals and humans. As our global population expands, resources both on the earth and below the surface are becoming scarce

The inspiration and energy for the project came from the picture I saw while surfing the net, it’s a very vivid picture, and you will come to notice it once you go through the project. Hence, wise usage of these resources will sustain our planet and environment for our future generations by eliminating plastic wastes. While garbage is dumped we tend to forget that soil is a natural resource which is a scarce resource. Plastic bags have become the standard of carrying groceries and department store finds. However, plastic bags have a negative impact on marine life, leading to an increase in both injury and death of several species. It is easy to manufacture, easy to carry, strong for its weight and most of all, cheap. Plastic bags are particularly noticeable components of the litter stream due to their size and can take a long time to fully break down. Plastic bags are not biodegradable and its decomposition takes more than 1000 years. Plastic bags have proven to be a convenient way to contain waste and smell. However plastic bags can absorb disaster for composting systems incapable of dealing with them. The significant advantages of the usage of the plastic bags are efficiency, neatness and flexibility. Since plastic bags are not bio-degradable, the only way to get rid of them is to burn them up. Though lighting a match to them is easy, it has more than its fair share of disadvantages. The biggest of them is that flaming plastics can release toxic fumes (such as No3, No2, So3) into the environment, in turn taking the air pollution to much higher levels. One of the main disadvantages of plastic bags is that they are not renewable. Plastic bags are easily carried by the wind. They hang in bushes, float on rivers, flap from fences, clog drains, choke animals and affect the way the landscape looks. Few plastic bags are recycled and most types of plastic bags take hundreds of years to decay.

Reduce Recycle Reuse. There is series of solutions; related to the information above eliminating plastic bag could be a solution to prevent more damage from happening to our beloved environment some alternatives could be reusable bags, which could be as a canvas bags, it could always be printed, designed and personalized with any way the customer wants it to be. Some environmental organizations push the use of such bags, pointing out that reusable bags can be a small change with a big difference, but the uses of these bags go beyond the benefits to the environment, it’s a benefit for us. The method used is the SSM Mode 2, once you go along with the analysis the stages and tools would be sufficient.

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 Ethicality Statement:

Tackling this complex situation is to accomplish a well and trust worthy project, for my fellow classmates and University.

Regarding the B ball in the BECM a professional system practitioner should be aware and ethical having an overall perspective and holistic views to see the whole problem rather than the parts. Aware; meaning understanding the complex situation looking through the understand-scope. An aware practitioner doesn’t involve himself/herself in a complex situation. Although he/she; could be an essential stakeholder in this situation. How practitioner engages depends on his/her background, the tacit knowledge, the experience and the prejudices of being the practitioner. He/she should not be judgmental.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 Eliminating plastic bags:

Plastic bags as a mess

Solid waste management is becoming a major public health and environmental concern in urban areas of many developing countries. In general, solid waste management is given a very low priority in the developing countries, very limited funds are provided to the solid waste management sector by the governments, and the levels of services required for protection of public health and the environment are not attained. Improper solid waste management leads to substantial negative environmental impact. People do value their health and that of their children, especially regarding economic security and happiness. Sustainability is about meeting basic human needs and wants; without compromising the needs of the future generations. It is the legacy we want to leave for our children. This is what environmental awareness is all about. With the rise in standards of living, we throw away more things and there is now more diversity in the quality of solid wastes. We cannot take MOTHER NATURE for granted. As we have already said many people don't know that most plastics are made from petroleum. And those plastics can contain a whole host of other chemicals that are never labeled and that can be toxic to animals and humans such as: When plastic is heated in such as a microwave there are a variety of chemicals that can potentially leach out of the plastic and soak into the food. The chemicals that are most commonly found in PVC products, a commonly used plastic, are called phthalates. Phthalates, which accumulate in body tissues and can damage liver, lungs, and have been shown in lower mammals to damages reproductive organs. When considering the various positive aspects of plastic bags regarding weight, endurance, and cost, it has become a commercial product a tool for marketing. This is shown by it usage that varies from carrying advertising logos, clear sandwich bags, vegetable bags and variety of other forms used to carry our daily food items and other items which are all polluting our environment. The irresponsible usage is essential as well; it also attributes to the cost and convenience of the plastic bags which makes it widely used.

On economic terms, petroleum is required to produce plastic. Petroleum products are diminishing and getting more expensive by the day, since we have been using this non-renewable resource increasingly. Petroleum is vital for our modern way of life. It is necessary for our energy requirements – for our factories, transport, heating, lighting, and so on. Without viable alternative sources of energy yet on the horizon, if the supply of petroleum were to be turned off, it would lead to practically the whole world grinding to a halt. Surely, this precious resource should not be wasted on producing plastic bags, should it? While the usage of plastic bag remains the norm, there are successful campaigns working to turn the tide. Plastic is a familiar component of modern living, used in all sorts of packing and household and commercial applications. At the same time as the benefits of low cost, light weight, strength, imperviousness to gas and water, transparency, seal ability and printability are highly regarded, the very strength and durability which makes plastic such a useful and economic material can be a major problem when disposal is required. The significant advantages of the usage of the plastic bags are efficiency, neatness and flexibility. Every year around 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. So many that over one million bags are

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 being dumped every minute and they’re damaging our environment. Plastic waste can accumulate in the environment for decades. Just take a look around you; plastic bags can be seen hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, settled amongst bushes and floating on rivers. They choke the drains and sewage water and overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. (See Appendix 1) Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags. A dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn’t a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals. (See Appendix 2) Plastic block their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Dolphins, whales’ penguins are killed every year due to plastic bags absorption. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage, mistaking it with food. This would lead to a lack of meat. This is somehow a tragedy of commons which would threat the human sustainability. (Peter Check,2004) If an animal dies from its encounter with plastic, the body decomposes and the plastic becomes available for ingestion by, and entanglement of, other creatures. Since garbage is carelessly dumped into the soil, non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic and rubber prove lethal to the life in the soil. As our global population expands, resources both on the earth and below the ground are becoming scarce. Wise usage of these resources will sustain our planet and environment for our future generations by eliminating plastic wastes. While garbage is dumped we tend to forget that Soil is natural resources which are a scarce resource. Bio-plastics or organic plastics are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch, rather than fossil-fuel plastics which are derived from petroleum.( see Appendix 3).

Our planet is becoming increasingly contaminated by out unnecessary use of plastic. Plastic bags have been used for solid waste collection for decades. Plastic bags have proven to be a convenient way to contain waste and smell. However plastic bags can absorb disaster for composting systems incapable of dealing with them. In other words, the more plastic bags you use, the greater the chances of environmental damage. Since plastic bags are thin and airtight as well, children often end up blocking their mouths and nostrils with them. In case they are not being monitored by an adult, this leads to suffocation and, in some cases, even death. Plastic bags are extremely durable. In case you are thinking of this as an advantage, just bring to mind an image of the huge landfill that you visited on the city outskirts, the other day. In most probability, majority of the rubbish present there will comprise of plastic bags only. In other words, plastic bags have led to a great increase in the pollution levels. Since plastic bags are not bio-degradable, the only way to get rid of them is to burn them up. Though lighting a match to them is easy, it has more than its fair share of disadvantages. The biggest of them is that flaming plastics can release toxic fumes into the environment, in turn taking the air pollution to much higher levels. One of the main disadvantages of plastic bags is that they are not renewable. The reason behind this is that they are made of petrochemicals, a non-renewable source of energy. They can be recycled, but not as easily as paper bags. Plastic bags can last for as much as hundreds of years. In other words, long after you are no more, the plastic bag used by you will be in existence. Few plastic bags are recycled and most types of plastic bags take hundreds of years to decay. In South Africa, plastic bags are so common they are called the ‘national flower’. Efforts have recently been made in some countries to reduce the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photo degrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

 chain when animals accidentally ingest them. Degradability means that they remain in the environment for a long time. In addition to bags that are littered, many enter the environment after more appropriate disposal but they escape from litter bins, garbage trucks and from landfill sites. Therefore the number of bags in the environment is, in effect, cumulative with Australia adding to the total each year by approximately 80 million “Plastic bags are ubiquitous”. Most plastic bags have a short lifetime with a consumer they are used for the few minutes it takes to get from the store to home and then they’re thrown away. Plastic shopping bags can last up to a thousand years in a landfill. In the environment, they break down into tiny, toxic particles that become part of the soil and water. They contribute to the plastic debris in the ocean that kills an estimated 1 million sea creatures each year. Some countries being developed or developing do tend to ban the usage of the plastic bags. Ireland: Individual consumers are required to pay a 15cent tax per plastic bag - this has resulted in an estimated 90% reduction in plastic bag use in the first year. The Taiwan and South Africa: Both countries prohibit the thinner plastic bags - this encourages people to bring their own bags since retailers can't afford to provide the more expensive, thicker plastic bags for free. Zanzibar-Tanzania the spicy island that has become a tropical tourist paradise has banned the usage of plastic bags. Anyone found producing, importing, using or selling plastic bags could face a fine of 2000$ and a jail sentence of up to 12 months which means a year. The system of interest in which this paper will be addressed is about the Harmful effects of the usage of the plastic bags, by polluting the environment, and kill animals. Every once in a while the government here passes out an order banning shop keepers from providing plastic bags to customers for carrying their purchases, with little lasting effect. Plastic bags are very popular with both retailers as well as consumers because they are cheap, strong, lightweight, functional, as well as a hygienic means of carrying food as well as other goods. Even though they are one of the modern conveniences that we seem to be unable to do without, they are responsible for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up the precious resources of the earth. About a hundred billion plastic bags are used each year in the US alone. And then, when one considers the huge economies and populations of India, China, Europe, and other parts of the world, the numbers can be overwhelming. The problem is further intensifying by the developed countries shipping off their plastic waste to developing countries like India. The qualitative criteria in which will be measuring the system in order to monitor, and control the process are the 3 E’S that are the backbone or the building block in order to assure a qualitative measure. The Efficacy: It is what the system has to do. Efficiency: means how well it is done. Effectiveness: means whether this being a n improving effect of the situation.

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

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 Stakeholders: Perspective Plastic Industry and the companies To maximize profit NGO’s: green peace, AEAPL, AEH, ALOE

These NGO’s care about the wellbeing and sustainability of the environment.

The employees: To earn their salaries Customers: supermarkets/malls Easy way out, being done with the

shopping Media, sponsorship market Promoting and advertising Local Entrepreneurs, Collectors and Local Communities

To provide better jobs

Public & Private Sector institutions To permit the use of plastic National and Provincial Government and Local Municipalities

To collect the wasted bags

Figure1: the stakeholders of the complex situation of plastic bags Abbreviations: AEAPL: Association for Environmental and Agricultural Protection in Lebanon AEH: Association of Environment and Human ALOE: Assocition for Lebanese Organic Agricultral Regarding to the T306B there is 3 main methods to solve a given complex situation this is a small comparison between HSM, SSM & VSM Methods Soft System Method

Given an apparently complex, unstructured organizational situation

The SS-Method can be very useful for

Determining what’s going on, and what it might be effective to do about it , based on qualitative data

Viable System Method

Given some agreed idea of what it might be effective to do

The VSM methods can be very useful for

Designing an efficacious organizational structure for doing it well.

Hard System Method

Given and efficacious organization structure

The HS-method can be very useful for

Measuring and improving the structure’s operational efficiency, based on quantitative data

This is why I decided to use the SSM method, which will later on I’ll introduce its characteristics, and the reasons why I adopted it as a method of analysis to my project. SSM is a systemic approach to problem solving because it makes serious use of systems concepts but it can applied systematically as it can be seen as a comprising a number stages. SSM is a process of inquiry with a number of distinct stages, passage through which is usually iterative rather than linear. Problems are unbounded, unclear and uncertain; this is why the term

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 problem context or problem situation is used. A group of people may agree on the nature of the problem, but disagree as to what constitutes a solution. The main point the practitioner is seeking is to obtain and finding the answer or the solution to the following problem, which is preventing and trying to stop the usage of plastic bags. The SSM method is to be used and the mode 2; emphasizes on a scientific approach to problem solving since the flow of information will be related to the problem situation, not the continuous of the step and implementation of that. I chose it because I found it very suitable for the project that I’m tackling and because it makes us look at the problem from different stages, angles and perspectives. Now the usage of the BECM balls is necessary to simplify my mess in order to get to the solution. Regarding to the B ball of the juggler; observing the case is an essential step, to understand the system by looking to the case with the understand-scope which would give the whole picture rather than having each parts of the system alone. Having a holistic view of the case would make the practitioner to control the movements in the system. Refer to our awareness and our ethics of action and responsibility. How practitioner engages depend on his background, experience and prejudices of being the practitioner. It is understanding situation and be aware about it. (Peter Check, 2004)

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Houry Awedis Hassarjian ID‐8576 TMA02 T306 B Final Project Dr. Rima RouhanaSpring 10 AOU Lebanon

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TUTOR REPORT:

Description of the system:

Plastic bags have harmful effects on the soil, water and air. In the fields these plastic bags when deposited in high quantities cause soil infertility. The accumulation of plastic prevents the sunlight from entering the soil thus destroying the beneficial bacteria, so necessary for soil fertility. The acidic combination present in plastic, after a period of time disturbs the chemical formula of the soil, again causing loss of fertility. Since the plastic bags are picked up from the garbage and recycled, they tend to retain a lot of bacteria which are difficult to destroy, which in turn contaminates the food it will hold, causing ill health. The burning of plastic in temperatures less than 800 degrees Celsius in an open space creates noxious fumes such as hydrogen cyanide and other poisonous gases which cause air pollution resulting in skin, and respiratory problems and also certain kinds of cancer. Plastic wastes when dumped in or thrown into river, ponds or sea have disastrous effects on the species living underwater, and a lot of marine life is lost due to this. Listed below are some health hazards on land, and sea. Plastic waste blocks drains and gutters, stopping the flow of rain water and sewerage, causing an overflow which becomes the breeding ground for germs and bacteria causing many diseases. The toxic smoke produced while burning plastic kills thousands each year. Workers and people living near a plastic or resin factory are prone to certain kinds of cancer and birth defects. The damage usually occurs in the nasal, throat, and lung lining and can result in dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing. Prolonged exposure to the fumes can lead to long-term respiratory illnesses, coma, and death. Plastic bags that fly and land in agricultural land retard the growth of the crops by wrapping itself around the plants. Plastic wastes that stay on the soil for long stop the passage of oxygen causing soil infertility. Plastic bags litter the landscape. They hang in bushes, float on rivers, flap from fences, clog drains, choke animals and affect the way the landscape looks once they are used, most plastic bags go into landfill, or rubbish tips. Each year more and more plastic bags are ending up littering the environment. Domestic animals like cows and goats are often found dead after swallowing bits of plastic that gets mingled with the grass they eat. Marine life like Dolphins, whales’ penguins is killed every year due from plastic bags absorption. Others become entangled in plastic bag and drown. And worse, the ingested plastic bag remains intact even after the death and decomposition of the animal. Thus, it lies around in the landscape where another victim may ingest it.

Few plastic bags are recycled and most types of plastic bags take hundreds of years to decay. In South Africa, plastic bags are so common they are called the ‘national flower’. Approximately 12 million plastic bags are handed out to shoppers in Britain every year. And around 10 million plastic bags are disposed of by Bangladesh nationals every year. And 6 billion plastic bags are thrown away by Australians every minute. As for the use of plastic in India has more than doubled in the last 20 years, It has increased from 1.8 million tons to about 5 million since 1995-96 up till now. These are the statistics from some of the countries only. If we add up the plastics used all over the world the amount of plastic used and discarded will be enormous. Since plastics non-bio-degradability is creating serious environmental and health problems and something should be done about it. Every once in a

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 while the governments pass out an order banning shop keepers from providing plastic bags to customers for carrying their purchases, with little lasting effect. Plastic bags are very popular with both retailers as well as consumers because they are cheap, strong, lightweight, functional, as well as a hygienic means of carrying food as well as other goods. Even though they are one of the modern conveniences that we seem to be unable to do without, they are responsible for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up the precious resources of the earth.

About a hundred billion plastic bags are used each year in the US alone. And then, when one considers the huge economies and populations of India, China, Europe, and other parts of the world, the numbers can be staggering. The problem is further exacerbated by the developed countries shipping off their plastic waste to developing countries like India. Plastic bags are non-biodegradable. And one of the worst environmental effects of plastic bags is that they are non-biodegradable. The decomposition of plastic bags takes about 1000 years. Petroleum is required to produce plastic bags. As it is, petroleum products are diminishing and getting more expensive by the day, since we have been using this non-renewable resource increasingly. Petroleum is vital for our modern way of life. It is necessary for our energy requirements – for our factories, transport, heating, lighting, and so on. Without viable alternative sources of energy yet on the horizon, if the supply of petroleum were to be turned off, it would lead to practically the whole world grinding to a halt. Surely, this precious resource should not be wasted on producing plastic bags, should it?

Process and Product Information of plastics

Recycling No. Abbreviation Polymer Name Uses once recycled

HDPE High density

polyethylene Bottles, grocery bags, plastic base cups.

LDPE Low density

polyethylene

Shopping bags, industrial PTO bags, sheeting tubing, various plastic containers, dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing, and various molded laboratory equipment.

PP Polypropylene Auto parts, BOPP film, industrial fibers, food containers.

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Figure 2: The System Map illustrates the whole situation; it identifies the stakeholders and the key players with respect to the relationship with the environment. The internal factors are affected by the instability and uncertainty of the outer systems.

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  Spray diagram: This diagram illustrates the main component that lead to having plastic bags mess.

Figure 3: The spray diagram illustrated the effects and benefits of using the plastic bags, the points that have a main impact on the environment. The sub-systems are the effects, the production, the benefits and the remedial of plastic bags.

Rich picture

The rich picture I draw shows the importance and general problems that plastic bags are causing. Rich Picture is made to illustrate the whole situation and not taking the problem alone, taking the relevant perspectives and all stakeholders and the effects they imply on the situation, either directly or indirectly. Summarizes the situation in all its complexity & examine the rich picture to identify primary task; what is really central to this problem, what is to be done to survive. However the rich pictures express the different components that lead to this mess. Deal with strengths and weaknesses of a particular method in a given context so that they could choose for themselves by determining the perception of problems and opportunities, where the problem identified include: Economical, Political, and Environmental problems. However the problem that suffers from it is the economic, social, political, environmental sector lead to aggravation of crisis.

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Figure 4: Rich Picture of the harmful usage of plastic bags A SWOT analysis is very important because it examines four aspects of eliminating plastic bags as my project, namely Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

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Strengths Weakness Lifts a lot of weight it's light to carry around and good for transporting goods for once place to another.

The effect of killing the marine and wild life like: dolphins, turtles, birds, Cows, and sheep’s.

Lets the food to stay sterilized once its frozen Awareness and irresponsible usage Carrying advertising logos-Colorful-attractive can send a message to the public, can be very personalized and customized.

Lack of implementing the 3 R’s: Reduce Reuse Recycle

Thin, airtight and lightweight nature Huge landfill Efficiency, neatness and flexibility A product of petroleum They are easy to get. Give them for free with groceries, not easily torn, Its waterproof- impermeable

Supermarkets buy these plastic bags for their customers

Convenient way to contain waste and smell it is not environment friendly they fold down to almost no space in the drawer Not renewable & non

biodegradable They are absolutely wonderful for camping and picnics costly to recycle

Opportunity Threats

Cleaner, greener most energy-efficient bag materials produced today

A way for Advertisement-posters and billboards Extinction of marine and wild life

Alternative bags: canvas, Jute, Tote and biodegradable bags

Burn them up would cause health problems and toxic fumes which leads to Ozone depletion

Using the new Additive the D2W for biodegradation tragedy of commons which would threat the human sustainability

Plastic bags are a small invention but they make our lives just a little bit easier

planet is becoming increasingly contaminated

Petroleum with the scarcity of this resource we would have a problem.

Relevant system & their root definition & CATWOE

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 Related to the block 2 the CATOWE checklist was introduced to force the practitioner to search questions about the definition drafted. Does the definition include the C - A - T – O - W - E?

Identifying the CATWOE Relevance

C ustomer Which means those who are on the receiving end of the system, who are the victims or beneficiaries? The Customers of this system is the Public and the Human Race, who is the end user for plastic bags

A ctor Meaning who is actually carrying the activity, whether the activity needs a professional touch or anyone could do it. It Is the Governments that enforce rules and regulation concerning safety measures and international standard for the production of plastic bags. NGO’s who protect the rights

T ransformation Meaning process what the system does to transform the inputs into outputs. In this case it is the transformation from plastic bags derived of polymer to biodegradable bags or even reusable bags. It is the shift from harmful material to sustainability.

W orld views Which gives a guide line for how to look at the problem situation? Concerning the plastic bags the worldview orbits around the fact that it is a step closer toward sustainable development

O wners Who have sufficient power over the system to cause it to cease to exist? These are the factories and firms that allow the transformation of polymers into plastic bags as well as retail shops and big supermarkets who buy these products to give it for free to their customers.

E nvironment Checks the constraints of the environment relating to the system.  In here they are the NGO-s that supports the human right and environmental agencies whether local or international who are trying to limit the usage of non-biodegradable plastic bags to ensure a sustainable environment

The Relevant Root Definition:

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 The problem has a number of perspectives that should be tackled from the social, economical and political, ethical, technical, legal implications, which all needed to be addressed to know the results from all perspectives. There is a very important quote which means “Your Freedom ends when the Freedom of the other’s starts”. The importance of this is to know how to act and in what way to act.

From a technological perspective:

The world progressed with the technologically advanced machinery, this play an important role in the mass production of plastic bags, being a way of advertisement and a way to carry the products. It combines two roles in one.

From a social perspective: Since the world and lifestyle changed, everyone is looking for the fast life. Meaning that as everyone is working, free time is so limited, going for a grocery shopping is limited, everyone is having a hectic life. So the usage of plastic bags got increased due to the rapid change in the lifestyle. Cultural heritage is important to be mentioned here as well.

From a economical perspective: the infrastructure plays an important role in here, having a landfill which is prepared to grasp all these wastes and the plastic bags, having a Recycling factories, the awareness of the household not to throw each and every plastic bag they get, they can return them to the grocery shop or back to the malls

From a political perspective: Politics is essential part, plastic bag’s companies have influence on political ground, banning couldn’t be an option.

From an environmental perspective:

Plastic grocery bags have a number of environmental drawbacks, with the use of petroleum being only one example. When plastic grocery bags are not recycled or land filled, they end up in the natural.

From a legal perspective: The government has to take certain procedure, they should take a course of action, to prevent throwing the plastic bags, either implement tax payments, or applying a law to issue tickets for whoever is miss-using our environment.

From an ethical perspective: Ethics, it’s an essential perspective, schools, nurseries, universities, organization profitable or non-profitable it was, should teach how to be ethical.

Multiple cause diagrams:

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Figure 5: The multiple cause diagrams illustrates clearly the effects and causes of the plastic bags mess, it also shows the intangible or indirect effects and consequences of having plastic bags in our environment.

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Figure 6: Another spray diagram to illustrate the project more it’s the effects of plastic bags with respect for the different perspectives and aspects.

Conceptual model:

Figure 7: Conceptual model is the theoretical drawing each situation should have. The ideal world a situation should face. The illustration of the CM is analyzed in the table below. In fact the First step is Awareness of the messy situation, than sorting and collecting the plastic bags to head it to the recycling factories, so that the minimization of the wastes reduces. The legal entities and laws should be applied and the landfills should be upgraded. Another options could be the usage of re-usable and biodegraded bags.

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Comparison of the conceptual model with the real picture:

Carry forward Idea for change

Rich Picture CM Blobs

Campaigns, funding the NGO’s, lectures and debates

Yes NGO’S doing their best in a limited way

A system for awareness

To provide laws and regulations and making it a standard as the ISO in governments.

Yes In few countries A system of recycling

Provide laws or exchange the previous laws, will using they will be boycotted taxes

Yes Lack in laws and restriction

A system of legal entities

To generalizing Yes No banning A system for banning plastic

Recruitment of fresh graduated students who promote and advertise the biodegradable additives in a unique and original way

Yes Not available in the rich picture, some are starting to use it

A system of promoting the biodegradable additive

Promoting campaigns and free of charge bags in the beginning to launch the product

Yes Not available A system to promote the reusable bags

Developing more stable and geographical collection and environmental friendly

No There is but should be developed

A system to collect the waste and sorting them

Provide a project funded by the government or UN to transform the landfills into recycling areas

yes It is available but needed to be treated better

A system to upgrade the landfills

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Agenda’s to improve: Solutions Agenda Campaigns, funding the NGO’s, lectures and debates A1 To provide laws and regulations and making it a standard as the ISO in governments.

A2

Provide laws or exchange the previous laws, will using they will be boycotted taxes

A3

Rationalization of banning plastic bags A4 Recruitment of fresh graduated students who promote and advertise the biodegradable additives in a unique and original way

A5

Promoting campaigns and free of charge bags in the beginning to launch the product

A6

Developing more stable and geographical collection and environmental friendly

A7

Provide a project funded by the government or UN to transform the landfills into recycling areas

A8

Debating with the stake holders: In this stage the Managing Ball among the BECM ball is very important. To manage this problem, in the beginning deciding for the stakeholders was the issue, but after the research and the development of information, I came along that deciding for is not essential after engaging myself in the problem, Decide with the Stakeholder is preferable in this case. The practitioner in this case who is me eventually came along that the research and the steps used in the SSM were very fundamental to come up with the agenda to debate it with the stakeholders. Regarding my project, awareness campaigns should be established by local and international NGO’s, by which recycled paper fliers could be distributed to inform the audience that the usage of plastic bags are harmful for our environment and ourselves eventually, to protect ourselves and our future generations. To provide laws and regulations and standardized legal contracts among countries to have recycling programs and to co elaborate the powers to provide more sustainable environment. Once these contracts are implemented the government’s role is to provide the follow ups and check whether the citizens are applying the laws and regulations apposed on them. For the follow up government needs to recruit skilled employees to come up with this given task.

Implementations: After debating with my stakeholders, the points that came along in the agenda were very extensive analysis, on a very high level as the international law change and implications. My stakeholders did enjoy the analysis but since we have managed to decide with the stakeholders, we as a team got into a conclusion that the usage of reusable plastic bags could be necessary at least to stop the maximizing the landfills and the dumping of plastic bags, each reusable bag could prevent at least some 50 bags, so the damage minimizes.

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Log frame: Log frame for eliminating the usage of plastic bags.

Goal: Banning plastic bags in order to go greener Purpose: A system to reduce the use of plastic bags, by having reusable bags to

maintain the sustainability of the environment.

Output: 1- A system that awakens people. 2- A system to recycle. 3- A legitimate systems. 4- A systems that funds the projects. 5- A system that bans plastic bags. 6- A system that promote d2w

Activities: 1.1) Campaigns on national level, lectures about the benefit of additives, and in fact applying them in the production of the bags with biodegradable additives.

1.2) Building up recycling plants and applying them in Lebanon. 1.3) Applying the previous rules and regulations or come up with new

laws. 1.4) Projects or fund raising events to finance this project 1.5) To illustrate what D2W does and how it could be helpful with the

decrease in the environmental harm caused by the production and usage of the plastic bags.

The presentation of waste is better than the treatment and disposal, regarding as most favorable and sustainable waste management.

            Preferred option 

1‐ Prevention 2‐ Minimization 3‐ Re‐use 4‐ Recycle 5‐ Recovery 6‐ Disposal 

Least preferred option 

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Client Report:

Date: 03-05-2010

Dear Stakeholders

Throughout working on this complex situation, I hereby notify you that the main issues are the harmful aspects of having plastic bags, by which the plastic bags area by product of petroleum, which is a scare resource. By its light weight and clarity these bags are transformed quickly into the sewages and waterfalls, leading them to the rivers and seas. By which the marine life is facing this threat of distinction, this is the case with the penguins, sea turtles and dolphins to be honest. If these plastic bags didn’t find their pathway throughout the water, they are transferred to the landfills in which the animals graze again leading for their suffocation and eventually to their death. The fact that plastic bags are not degradable, it stays hundreds of years with no degradation. They cumulate and end up having a mountain near the Seashore.

Help me... Help yourself to save our beloved Environment to maintain the sustainable development we are all seeking for. Remember, we have not inherited nature from our grandparents, but we are borrowing it from our grandchildren…

Sincerely yours

Your System Practitioner

Houry A. Hassarjian

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 Project LOG

In this table, we hereby come to inform the weekly meeting with our Dr, to help and guide us to work on the right track, related to our final project:

Week 1: 17-02-2010 Deciding on the project

The first week we had to surf the internet to choose the appropriate complex situation to tackle for the course T306B as a final Project In the beginning my subject was about D2W additive, which would make the plastic bags to become biodegradable within a given period of time depending on the percentage mixed in the mixture.

Week 2: 24-02-2010 Re-deciding on another project topic

After hearing that the course chair doesn’t want pollution problems we had to change the research and the data gathered in to how to ban plastic bags or how to prevent them from dumping them with no recycling actions.

Week 3: 03-03-2010 Reading the Project Guide

How to manage complexity, what and how to solve stakeholder’s analysis, the Soft Method and its 7 stages. I got introduced to the tutor, client reports and the project log.

Week 4: 10-03-2010 Started to gather the relevant data to present it to my Dr and to start working with it.

Week 5: 17-03-2010 Since I do work in a plastic production company, I was able to gather sample of biodegradable bags. Having a database for the biodegradable usage in Lebanon. Which is introduced by Ghnanem Development company?

Week 6: 24-03-2010 Building up my study case for the TMA01 t306 B Week 7: 31-03-2010 A day before had an accident and the data was lost as well

as the laptop, had to restart my research and work on the banning of plastic bags rather working on d2W and Biodegradable bags

Week 8: 07-04-2010 Again collecting the relevant data Week 9: 14-04-2010 I debated with my Dr about the data and how to sort them

out and what method to use, and the result was SSM mode 2, because it is relevant to the situation itself rather than the steps

Week 10: 21-04-2010 Ethically statement was introduced to the project along with my project log which was on the way to be done and the diagrams and picture needed to give value to my work.

Week 11: 28-04-2010 Finalized information and good to start implementing Week 12: 03-05-2010 Working on the project; re-checking the diagrams, the

Conceptual model, and finalizing the Rich picture Week 12: 05-05-2010 Submission of the final project

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 References:

1)- Peter Check land, Edited 2004, Logic driven inquiry, Rosalind Armson, Managing Complexity, the Open University, and p: 47-58.

2)-Trevor Livesey, Edited 2004, Systemic Learning Cycle, Simon bell and Jake Chapman, Managing Complexity, the Open University, p: 66-70

3)- Blackmore C., Ison R., Chapman J. (2005), T306 Block 4 “Managing sustainable development: learning with other stakeholders”, London, The Open University

4)-Eliminating plastic bags: accessed on 23-02-2010 at 2:00 pm http://beyondthepolitical.blogspot.com/2007/05/eliminate-plastic-bags.html accessed on the

5)- Going Green: accessed on 22-03-2010 http://knol.google.com/k/shaarah-k/the-ecological-footprint-of-plastic-bags/1jijirrp7l4wu/1#

5)-D2W: accessed on 28-2-10 at 3:30PM http://www.d2w.asia/doc_oxo_technology.php?lang=en

6)-Green Tips: http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/202/d2w---degradable-plastics.html

7)- Environmental impact: accessed 3-3-10 @ 3:30PM http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/environment/plastic/plastics.shtml 

8)-Better usage of the bags: accessed 28-2-10 @ 3:17PM http://www.clearplasticbags.org/biodegradable-plastic-bags.html

9)- Jute Bags: accessed 28-2-10 @ 3:30PM http://www.worldjute.com/jute_policy/polybag.html

10)- Revert: accessed on 28-2-10 around 2:00AM http://www.oxobioplast.com/technology.html

11)- Harmful effects of plastic bags: accessed on 14-4-10 at 9:53PM http://earn4blog.com/shimar/harmful-effects-plastic-bags

12)-Facts about Bags: accessed on 14-4-10 at 9:54 AM http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/waste/plastic-bags/index.html

13)- Reusable bags: accessed on 14-4-2010 at 9:56 PM http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=2

14)- Disadvantages: accessed on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 11:39PM http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/disadvantages-of-plastic-bags-5207.html

15)-Degradable bags: accessed on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 11:45 PM http://degradableplasticbag.net/category/d2w-major-users/ years

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 Appendix 1:

Appendix 2:

The Famous turtle picture mentioned in the acknowledgment this was the picture that lead me to choose this particular subject, the only guilt this turtle had was being Hungry which caused it to his death due suffocation.

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 Appendix 3:

 

Ethylene (ethene), showing the pi bond in green. 

Appendix 4:

 

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Say No To Plastic Bags and Prevent the damage to the Environment from the harmful consequences of

PLASTIC BAGS, which , unfortunately, are dumped, not recycled.