THE BAN ON SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

The ban is welcome 

The Lagos State Government recently placed a ban on the distribution and use of polystyrene and other single-use plastics in its domain. Environmentalists and those familiar with the harmful impact these products have on human and animal health and on the environment support this policy. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the benefits of plastic are undeniable. “The material is cheap, lightweight, and easy to make. These qualities have led to a boom in the production of plastic over the past century,” says UNEP which also highlighted the down sides.

Polystyrene is a hard, stiff, transparent synthetic resin produced by the polymerisation of styrene. It is widely employed in the food-service industry as rigid trays and containers, disposable eating utensils, and foamed cups, plates, and bowls. Polystyrene is also blended with other polymers, lending hardness and rigidity to several important plastic and rubber products. Environmentalists say Polystyrene takes up more landfill than any other waste – 30 per cent globally and that it is not only a dangerous air pollutant but also poses a great threat to humans, the environment and wildlife. This product is not biodegradable and takes over 500 years to decompose and while decomposing, it leeches harmful chemicals into the environment.

It is commendable that the Lagos State government has resolved to heed the advice of UNEP by regulating the use of these products and it is our hope that all other state governments including the FCT Administration will also institute similar regulation to safeguard our environment and our lives. Specifically, polystyrene contains styrene, believed to be a carcinogen, which leaks into and contaminates food and drinks served in polystyrene containers, affecting human health and reproductive systems. As a commercial product, it has been banned in many countries, but enforcement remains a challenge on the continent.

In 2005, Eritrea became the first to adopt an outright ban on plastic bags. Benin Republic adopted a ban on the production, importation, marketing, possession, and use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in November 2017 to end marine plastic pollution. Tanzania banned plastic sachets used for packing distilled and other alcoholic beverages from being manufactured or imported to mainland Tanzania. Tourists are not allowed to enter the country with plastic carrier bags.

Senegal is the most recent country to tighten its efforts against single-use plastic. It announced its ban on single-use plastic water sachets and coffee cups in February 2020, to be implemented in April 2020. In Côte d’Ivoire, the ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags that was expected to come into effect in November 2013 was met with fierce opposition from the plastics industry. The law includes plastics used for bags of drinking water. In 2016, they also outlawed plastic sachets used for alcohol. Madagascar banned plastic bags less than 0.05 millimetres thick since 2015 and have forced local businesses to find alternative packaging solutions.

Mali announced a ban against non-biodegradable bags in 2013. Tunisia banned the use of plastic bag in March 2017 and instructed all supermarket chains to stop distributing the bags. Plastic bags were first banned in Malawi in 2015, but the country’s high court overturned the original ban the next year after 14 plastic manufacturers opposed the ban, saying it was “an infringement of business rights.” But later, seven supreme court judges ruled that the original ban must be upheld after all. In 2013, Mauritania banned plastic bags. In the capital of Mauritania, an estimated 70 percent of cattle and sheep deaths are caused by plastic bag ingestion.

In The Gambia, under the prohibition and ban of the use of plastic bags, a person who manufactures or imports, uses, or sells plastic bags commits a criminal offence.

·         To be concluded tomorrow