TT must use structured process to ban plastics

TYRELL GITTENS

This country has to look at its own context and what works for it in terms of eliminating single-use plastics from mainstream consumption, since its strategy may not necessarily work for another country and vice versa.

This was the advice last week by Jamaican Senator Matthew Samuda when he spoke at the National Library in Port of Spain as part of a panel discussion on banning single-use plastics. The event was part of the 2019 Green Screen Environmental Film Festival.

In 2016, Samuda said, he tabled a motion in Jamaica’s Senate to ban single-use plastics. In 2018, the motion was adopted with the Jamaican government announcing a ban on plastic straws, single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam food containers.

Following the ban, Samuda said, “We (Jamaica) immediately cut plastic straws and single use plastic bags from certain retail trade. The importation of Styrofoam containers was cut in January this year to allow trade to dry up. The production and distribution gets cut next year January.”

The ban is not that simple however. “You can’t have a broad brush discussion about single use plastics. You have to take apart the waste stream and have discussions about varying items that are allowed to enter the waste stream.”

He added, “Looking at our (Jamaica) waste stream, we took it item by item and determined what we wanted and didn’t want our citizens to consume. We determined that if it’s not recyclable, it’s something we are not going to allow to enter our waste stream.” Analysing Jamaica’s ability to collect, recycle and re-processing of waste, that country’s government decided to ban plastic straws, single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam food packaging. Absent from the list however are plastic bottles.

“Banning straws is easy but banning plastic bottles is not, in our mind, the answer. What Jamaica decided to do was take the Norwegian model which puts a charge on bottles at the point of purchase which acts as a deposit refund scheme.” Samuda said such a scheme helps create an economic value so people can see greater incentive in recycling plastics bottles.

Jamaican businesses have also joined the effort as Samuda said, “Jamaica’s plastic manufacturers in February created a self-imposed tax which has been going into an account monitored by the government.” Thus far, $7 million Jamaican dollars have been invested in collection facilities for plastic bottles which accounts for 15 per cent of that island’s waste. Samuda said waste collection is another part of the process.

Saying the stakes on the continued use of single-use plastics were too high, Samuda added, “It was simply too expensive by way of public purse and by way of public disaster (for Jamaica) to continue using single use plastics.” In his budget speech, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that TT will implement its own ban on Styrofoam and single-use plastics by January 2020.