Page 46 - Plastics News February 2020

internAtionAL news

Italy told to stop using Malaysia Tunisia to ban plastic bags in

as plastics dumping ground supermarkets and chemists

he Italian government has unisia has announced plans to stop its supermarkets
Tbeen urged to end the Tand pharmacies from using single-use plastic bags
illicit export of plastic waste to from next month before phasing them out completely
Malaysia after an investigation in 2021. Under government plans, major supermarkets
exposed the environmental and pharmacies will stop issuing the bags from 1 March,
and health implications of the with all bags banned by January 2021. Reusable bags
country being used as a prime – defined by the government as having a thickness of
dumping ground for unrecyclable 40 micrometres and a capacity of more than 30 litres
plastic. Demand for plastic is the – will remain in circulation. Chebli Hedi, the general
second highest in the EU, after director of environment and quality of life at the
Germany, and it is the sixth-largest exporter of plastic ministry of local affairs and the environment in Tunis,
waste to Malaysia. Malaysian imports of plastic waste explained: “Since the revolution we have had serious
from wealthy countries have risen dramatically since difficulty in different areas and different cities with
China, previously the world’s biggest importer, imposed plastic bags, which are small and have been thrown
away and disturb the environment.” Discarded plastic
a ban in January 2018. YB Tuan Ng Sze Han, a politician bags have become a common blight on the Tunisian
in the Malaysian state of Selangor, told Greenpeace that landscape, blown across the countryside, enmeshed
the contents of shipments arriving in the country rarely in trees and impacting the country’s land and marine
corresponded to what had been declared at customs.
EU law stipulates that member states can export plastic
waste to non-EU countries only if it is recyclable, and that
recycling companies must adhere to the environmental
and technical standards required of treatment facilities
in Europe.But lax controls at ports means a huge amount
of contaminated and hard-to-recycle plastic is being
shipped out of Europe and ending up in illegal factories.
The investigation by a team of journalists at Greenpeace
Italy found that of the 2,880 tonnes of plastic waste Italy
exported to Malaysia between January and September last
year, almost half was received by companies operating ecosystems. Often used to transport household waste
illegally. Giuseppe Ungherese, who leads Greenpeace to local collection areas, they are commonly piled by
Italy’s pollution campaign said “The [Italian] government the side of the road, where they lie awaiting collection
cannot pretend that nothing is happening illegally – it by the local municipality.An attempt to introduce a ban
must intervene. We know that only a small number of in 2016 failed following vocal resistance from industry.
containers leaving Italian ports are properly checked. However, it was enough to stop many of the country’s
A civilised country cannot close its eyes and dump the leading supermarkets issuing free bags. Instead, the
problem on a less developed nation – it’s like cleaning the stores started charging for a smaller number of more
house but hiding the dust under the carpet.” In analysis durable bags, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the
of Asia’s worst ocean polluters shows Malaysians are the overall number of bags in circulation.“We have become
biggest individual consumers of plastic packaging, Thomas addicted to single-use or disposable plastic — with severe
Schuldt, WWF’s coordinator of work on a plastic circular environmental consequences,” said Wassim Chaabane,
founder of the Association Tuniso-Méditerranéenne de
economy, said Malaysians consumed the most plastic l’Environnement, an environmental group. “In Tunisia,
because they were among the wealthiest. “There is lots more than 4.2bn single-use plastic bags are consumed,
of food delivery, which is plastic packaging-heavy and also where 1.2bn bags are imported informally.”
a lot of day-to-day products bought in supermarkets.”

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