Plan to ban importation of non-biodegradable plastic bags

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, which has responsibility for Vanuatu’s Ocean Policy has banned the importation and local manufacturing of non-biodegradable plastics.

The Government’s decision to ban certain non-biodegradable plastics was based on the outcome of field study reports done by environmental marine coastal groups working jointly with the Department of Environment on areas around Efate.

The groups discovered that a considerable amount of different forms of plastic waste has already entered our oceans around Vanuatu.

Plastic waste in the ocean is referred to as marine litter.

In 2018, the Government will be taking a number of important steps to manage the issue of marine litter and will be urging business houses, local authorities and the general public assist the Government in keeping our oceans healthy and clean.

The Government through the Council of Ministers has agreed to the following first steps in the management of marine litter — starting with a ban on the importation of single-use non-biodegradable plastic bags and polystyrene takeaway boxes in Vanuatu, from January 31.

It also decided that local manufacturers of plastic bags can only use biodegradable plastics starting from January 31; to review and provide a new method for disposal of plastic bottle waste in Vanuatu beginning on January 31; to give a grace period of six months for companies to use up their current stock of single-use plastics and polystyrene takeaway boxes, expiring on June 30, and to enact a regulation under the Waste Management Act to implement these changes by the end of January.

The CoM also resolved that the Government will support other alternatives to plastics such as traditional baskets.

The Government is now advising all importers and manufacturers of these items to take note of these changes and dates.

In the coming months the Government, through the Oceans Policy Management Sub-Committee under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, will be announcing and implementing additional steps aimed at further reducing marine litter.

Vanuatu was the first country in the Pacific to establish a National Oceans Policy with the aim of better managing its ocean and resources for present and future generations.

In addition, Vanuatu has already committed to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2015–2030 which is to ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources’.

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Head of the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, on email at ttevi@vanuatu.gov.vu or office phone 33180.

To understand the global plastics problem

FROM cars to food wrap and from planes to pens, you can make anything and everything from plastics — unquestionably the world’s most versatile materials.

But there’s a problem. Plastics are synthetic (artificially created) chemicals that don’t belong in our world and don’t mix well with nature.

Discarded plastics are a big cause of pollution, cluttering rivers, seas, and beaches, killing fish, choking birds, and making our environment a much less attractive place. Public pressure to clean up has produced plastics that seem to be more environmentally friendly.

Plastics are carbon-based polymers (long-chain molecules that repeat their structures over and over) and we make them mostly from petroleum. They’re incredibly versatile — by definition: the word plastic, which means flexible, says it all.

The trouble is that plastic is just too good. We use it for mostly disposable, low-value items such as food-wrap and product packaging, but there’s nothing particularly disposable about most plastics. On average, we use plastic bags for 12 minutes before getting rid of them, yet they can take fully 500 years to break down in the environment.

Getting rid of plastics is extremely difficult. Burning them can give off toxic chemicals such as dioxins, while collecting and recycling them responsibly is also difficult, because there are many different kinds and each has to be recycled by a different process.

If we used only tiny amounts of plastics that wouldn’t be so bad, but we use them in astounding quantities. In Britain alone (one small island in a very big world), people use eight billion disposable plastic bags each year.

If you’ve ever taken part in a beach clean, you’ll know that about 80 per cent of the waste that washes up on the shore is plastic, including bottles, bottle tops, and tiny odd fragments known as ‘mermaids’ tears’.

We’re literally drowning in plastic we cannot get rid of. And we’re making most of it from oil — a non-renewable resource that’s becoming increasingly expensive. It’s been estimated that 200,000 barrels of oil are used each day to make plastic packaging for the United States alone.