What problems does plastic waste cause, and how can they be solved?
An IELTS Writing Task 2 problem and solution essay on plastic waste, with a band 9 model answer, the plan behind it, and criterion by criterion notes on why it scores.
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Do this before you scroll. The model answer below will make sense as a comparison and not much use as a template.
Task 2 · 40 minutes · at least 250 words
The amount of plastic waste produced each year continues to rise. What problems does this cause, and what measures could be taken to address them?
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How to plan this one
- 1Two questions means two body paragraphs, and the second must answer the first. A solution that does not solve a problem you actually named is the standard way this essay type fails.
- 2Choose two problems, not five. Depth beats coverage: a problem stated, explained and given a consequence is worth more than a list.
- 3Make the solutions specific and name who acts. "The government should raise awareness" is empty. Say what the government does, and what changes as a result.
- 4Avoid the memorised environment vocabulary dump. Examiners read the same six phrases all day and they signal preparation, not range.
Model answer
Written at the top of the band. Read it for the moves it makes, not the opinions it holds: a memorised essay on this topic will not fit the prompt you actually get.
Global plastic production has risen almost without interruption since the 1950s, and the waste it generates now outpaces every system built to handle it. The consequences fall into two broad categories, and each responds to a different kind of intervention.
The first problem is that plastic does not leave. It fragments rather than decomposing, and the resulting particles have been found in soil, drinking water and human blood. In countries without comprehensive collection, including much of South Asia, the material accumulates in drains and waterways, where it blocks them and worsens urban flooding during the monsoon. The second problem is economic: municipal budgets absorb the cost of clearing waste that was profitable only for the company which produced it, so the public pays twice, once for the packaging and once for its removal.
Addressing the first requires reducing the volume at source, since no collection system can outrun unlimited production. The measure with the clearest record is a charge on single use items at the point of sale. Where such charges have been introduced, consumption of plastic bags has fallen sharply within a year, because the decision to take one is moved from habit to choice.
The economic problem needs a different tool. Extended producer responsibility, under which manufacturers are billed for the disposal of what they sell, moves the cost back to the party that can actually redesign the product. A company charged for the packaging it produces has a reason to use less of it, which no public awareness campaign can manufacture.
Neither measure is sufficient alone, but together they act on supply and on incentive rather than on individual willpower, which is where similar campaigns have generally failed.
Why it scores, criterion by criterion
Task Response
Both halves of the question are answered, and the answers are linked: the third and fourth paragraphs address the first and second problems in the same order. The conclusion explains why the measures work rather than summarising them, which is what lifts this above a competent list.
Coherence and Cohesion
The structure is announced in the introduction ("two broad categories") and then delivered exactly. "Addressing the first" and "The economic problem needs a different tool" carry the reader across without a single "Firstly" or "Secondly". Referencing is precise throughout.
Lexical Resource
Topic vocabulary is used accurately rather than decoratively: "fragments", "decomposing", "at source", "single use", "extended producer responsibility". The essay avoids the memorised environmental phrasing that examiners discount, and repeats the word "plastic" only where a paraphrase would be forced.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures serve the argument: a relative clause carries the double-payment point, "Where such charges have been introduced" fronts a conditional-like adverbial, and the final sentence uses a cleft ("which is where...") to land the argument. Tense use across present perfect and present simple is consistent.
Language worth stealing
Each of these carries a trap as well as a use, so the note matters as much as the phrase.
- at source
- Precise and short. Means reducing production rather than managing waste afterwards, a distinction that earns marks in any environment essay.
- the measure with the clearest record is ...
- Introduces evidence without inventing a statistic. Safer than "studies show", which examiners read as filler.
- moves the cost back to the party that ...
- Useful for any policy argument. It names a mechanism, which is what separates a real solution from a wish.
- Neither measure is sufficient alone, but together ...
- A conclusion that adds a judgement instead of repeating. Works for almost any problem and solution prompt.
More Task 2 practice
Last updated 13 September 2026.