Page 49 - Plastics News December2018

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Michigan legislator proposes to Turkey to ban plastic bags
repeal bottle bill law urkey is trying to break its addiction to plastics,

Timplementing a law next year that will do away with
Michigan legislator Joe free plastic bags at grocery stores. The ruling Justice
A Bellino, Monroe has and Development Party (AKP) recently submitted a
proposed a plan to repeal draft law to the parliament updating the regulatory
the state’s 40-year-old bottle regime for packing and waste proposing the ban of free
deposit law, according to plastic bags at supermarkets. The regulation is planned
reports from WXYZ-TV, to be effective as of January 1, 2019. AKP Deputy
Detroit. The state enacted Chair Mehmet Muş made a press statement regarding
the Michigan Beverage the draft law. He said plastic bags used for packaging
Container Act in 1976 and in supermarkets would be sold for 25 kuruş (1 Turkish
implemented it by 1978. Lira is equal to 100 kuruş).However, he emphasized the
The law requires reporting ban on free plastic bags would only be valid for those
of containers sold and with a thickness ranging from 15-50 microns, as this
redeemed by bottlers and distributors. Containers is the standard thickness of grocery bags. Any plastic
included in the law are airtight metal, glass, paper and bag with a thickness greater or less than this range will
plastic containers (or a combination of those materials) continue to be free of charge.
that are up to 1 gallon in size. The state pays back 10 cents Muş added that the relevant regulation seeks to
for deposits through the program. Currently, Michigan is decrease the use of customary plastic bags at
one of 11 states with a bottle deposit law. Republican State supermarkets to 90 per person annually by the end of
Rep. Joe Bellino, Monroe, Michigan, introduced legislation 2019 and to 40 by the end of 2025. The draft law not
as part of a new plan to provide a boost to community only includes a provision on the use of plastic bags, but
recycling programs, WXYZ-TV reports.
instead brings many changes to raise the bar higher
Bellino said that the bottle bills that once helped reduce in Turkey’s fight against waste management. In line
litter in the 1980s and 1990s is now adversely impacting with this, local administrations will be given more
recycling in the state. Bellino says the state’s current detailed tasks supervising efforts for zero waste. For
bottle deposit system captures about 2 percent of the example, it will be obligatory for at least 20 percent of
state’s waste and costs more and generates less revenue vehicles in the domestic waste collection fleet in every
than traditional recycling programs.
Also it is said that fraud is occurring in Michigan by
people fraudulently returning beverage containers from
out of state. though the amount of fraud occurring is not
currently known. Bellino’s plan would end the state’s
bottle deposit law on Dec. 31, 2022, and those who
purchase a product with a deposit before that date would
have three years to return the container for a refund
through the original bottle deposit law, according to
WXYZ-TV reports.According to a report from the Detroit
Free Press newspaper, Detroit, some experts say Bellino’s municipality to be capable of collecting packaging
proposed legislation isn’t likely to pass. James Clift, policy waste. A late contributor to global recycling efforts,
director at the Michigan Environmental Council, tells the Turkey still managed to make strides by upgrading its
Detroit Free Press that Bellino’s proposed legislation would recycling facilities and raising awareness against the
need three-quarters majority of votes, and there has been use of plastic in recent years. Compulsory charge for
broad support of the law for many years. plastic bags is considered a revolutionary change.

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53 December 2018 Plastics News