Planning minister: Full Styrofoam ban by June

PLANNING Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, in a statement yesterday, said TT is ready for the Styrofoam ban, and lambasted the businesses which oppose this plan.

She repeated Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s announcement in his budget speech of a ban on the import of Styrofoam by January 1, 2020, and added a later ban on locally-made Styrofoam.

“The manufacturing of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in the food and beverage industry will be banned from June 1, 2020.”

The statement said Robinson-Regis rejects the stance taken by some businesses that TT is not ready for the Styrofoam ban.

“The Government has joined the international community in its quest to position the environment at the centre of social and economic development through Cabinet's policy to ban the importation of non-biodegradable expanded polystyrene or Styrofoam food and beverage containers.”

She said since 2017 the Government had widely consulted stakeholders in the public sector and those in the private sector involved in the Styrofoam industry and in sustainable alternative packaging.

After these consultations, a multi-stakeholder working committee was set up to craft a way to phase out Styrofoam from the food and beverage industry. The committee was split into technical working groups to examine recycling, socio-economic impacts, alternative packaging, health and environmental implications.

Robinson-Regis said all parties were allowed to share information and were kept abreast of what type of future investments should be undertaken.

“As a result of this co-ordinated and agreed approach, the decision was made to ban the importation of finished expanded polystyrene in the food and beverage industry, remove customs duty on alternative products, and to encourage the manufacturing sector to transition to manufacturing more environmentally sustainable products.”

She said the ministries of the Attorney General, Trade and Industry, Planning and Development, and Finance had collaborated to develop legislation to ban the import of finished EPS products, the removal of duties on alternatives, and a ban on the local manufacture of Styrofoam products.

Robinson-Regis said a key aim of the integrated solid waste resource management policy was to reduce the toxicity and volumes of waste by prioritising reuse, recycling and source-separated organic waste management. She vowed to work towards the phasing out of polystyrene food and containers, expeditiously and with due diligence.

“The Government is also working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the alternatives used meet the necessary standards of biodegradability and compostability," she said.

“We look forward to a cleaner and healthier environment, remembering always that environmental pride is national pride.”