THA works with private sector on styrofoam ban

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has had to depend on the support from the private sector to initiate an island-wide ban on styrofoam products because it is unable to enact legislation on its own to make it mandatory.

“Given the Constitutional arrangement (Tobago has with Trinidad) we at the THA don’t have any clout to make these changes. It is incumbent in us to make appeals to counterparts in TT to make changes,” THA Director for the Environment, Linford Beckles told a Joint Select Committee of Parliament for Finance and Legal Affairs last week. The Committee’s topic of discussion was Waste Management in Tobago.

“So there is a willingness to move?” committee member Lester Henry asked. “Yes, of course. We have taken alternative steps to phase out styrofoam. Legislation is one way, but we are working with the private sector to phase it out voluntarily,” Beckles said.

Two villages, in particular, are aiming to be the first in the country to be styrofoam free, he said: Castara and Crown Point. The Crown Point Community Partnership Association, he said, is aiming to make the village a green area, and a couple businesses have already pledged to phase out styrofoam completely by World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5. “These businesses will be our champions,” he said.

“Congratulations on your willingness and proactiveness,” committee chair, Sophia Chote, said.

While businesses are willing to make the change, Beckles noted, one of the biggest challenges is that there are no taxes on styrofoam products, whereas the environmentally-friendly alternatives have.

“There is a wide price deviation. A key factor is the tariff structure,” he said. This does not align with the THA’s environmental ideals and needs to be addressed, with the legislation and policies updated. Alternative packaging in place of styrofoam, Linford added, included paper products, as well as those made out of bagasse (a sugarcane by-product) and corn.

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