Interdisciplinary Publication REPA PROCEEDING SERIES Vol 1 (1): Pages 70-76 (2020) DOI 10.37357/1068/SODC2019.1.1.09 ISSN 2435-7308 International Conference on Sustainability Outreach in Developing Countries (SODC 2019) 16-19 November 2019, Kabul, Afghanistan Corresponding author: N Nazanin Email: nazaninnazari7440@gmail.com This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 License. © 2020 by author and REPA - Research and Education Promotion Association Optimum solution for plastic waste reduction in Kabul city Nazanin Nazari, Najib Rahman Sabory, and Shuaib Mohsini Department of Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan Conference Proceeding Open Access Published ABSTRACT Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, with a higher population density compared to other major provinces in this country. As a result, more waste is generated including organic, plastic, and many other types of waste. This paper focuses on plastic waste generation problems created due to this waste and feasible and sustainable ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle these types of waste. It is very well known that plastic wastes are nondegradable and cause different types of problems such as blockage of water channels (streams and rivers) as well as many other environmental issues. This research suggests some feasible and effective ways to reduce plastic wastes in the city of Kabul. A survey to find the volume of plastic waste was done, which has not been done before. The findings of this survey and review of other existing literature enabled us to propose a practical and realistic solution for these environmental and social problems in the city of Kabul. This research will also help policy makers to make decisions based on accurate data and analysis. Keywords  Plastic waste  Environmental pollution  Plastic alternative  Plastic waste reduction  Waste recycling  Waste reuse Received: January 17, 2020; Revised: March 16, 2020; Accepted: March 20, 2020; Published: June 12, 2020 © 2020 REPA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The composition of plastic is from polymers, small units of monomers that are joined together in a chain by the process of polymerization and make poly- mers. The polymers generally contain carbon and hydrogen with other elements such as oxygen, nitro- gen, chlorine, or fluorine. Plastic waste disposal is pointed out as a most dif- ficult task, and according to a study, plastic can re- main stable about 4500 years on earth without any degradation [1]. The annual global production of plastic is 300 million tons [2]. Germany and Denmark were primary adopters of plastic bag bans in most retail stores in 1991 and 1994. However, since 2002, countries in Africa, Asia, and the rest of Europe have steadily introduced bans (South Africa, Bangladesh, and India) or levies (Ireland) on plastic bag con- sumption. In most cases, national approaches have been undertaken. Several countries in Africa and Asia completely banned the use of plastic bags [3]. According to [4] countries with coastal borders discharge plastic into the world's oceans with the largest quantities estimated to come from rapidly de- veloping countries (e.g., India and China). However, both India and China have already introduced bans of plastic bags. In 2002, India banned the production of ultrathin plastic bags (b20 μm) to prevent clogging of municipal drainage systems and to prevent the mortality of cows from ingesting plastic bags con- taining food. However, enforcement of bans remains a problem [5]. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships (MARPOL 73/78) was signed in 1973, although a complete ban on the disposal of plastics at sea was not enacted until 1988. Even though 134 countries agreed to eliminate plastics disposal at sea, research has shown that the problem of marine debris has worsened since MARPOL 73/78 was signed. This may be because the marine debris problem is related to incorrect disposal of waste on land. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) conduct monitoring research on marine debris to in- crease awareness [5]. Many studies have shown that it consists primarily of plastics with a continuously increasing global annual production of 300 million tons [2]. Some research mentioned a minimum of 5.25 tril- lion plastic particles weighing 268,940 tons afloat in the sea, but this figure does not include debris on the