‘Nobody really has a plan’

Just days before the plastic lunch box ban kicks in, importers and distributors are slamming the Government for its deafening silence. Their frustration mounts as they accuse officials of blindsiding stakeholders without the promised consultations, leaving the trade in limbo.

The ban, which is also extended to personal-care products with microplastic beads, is to be implemented on Saturday, June 1.

“It doesn’t even have to be a meeting. They could just do an article in the paper, [saying,] ‘These are the rules. These are what you’re allowed to use, and this is what is available in the market,” Kevin Homer, co-owner of Einstein Enterprises, told The Gleaner on Tuesday.

Senator Matthew Samuda, the minister with responsibility for the environment, had initially announced a December 31, 2023 effective date for the ban before it was pushed back.

Since then, Homer said no information has been forthcoming about the ban, which has caused him to doubt it will even happen.

“I still speak to people that use those single-use plastic boxes, and they say the same thing. They’re just gonna wait to see if, first of all, the ban actually happens, and then, the second thing is, they’re just gonna wait to see what everybody else is using. So nobody really has a plan,” he said.

When the Government announced a ban on the use of expanded polystyrene foam products in the food and beverage industry in January 2020, Homer said he imported alternatives to take advantage of what he thought would be a burgeoning market. However, not only did he believe that enforcement was lax in the ensuing months, but he said the market rejected his bagasse boxes – a biodegradable product made from sugar cane, in favour of the current plastic lunch boxes.

Another importer, who did not want to be identified, told The Gleaner he has not prepared for the impending ban as the Government has not been clear on what this would entail.

“The entire market doesn’t have any idea what’s going on – every other importer, business owner, and the people I sell to. I get a daily call from somebody asking what’s going to replace [the plastic boxes]. What’s happening?” the importer asked.

Among the matters that need greater clarification, the importer contended, is the definition of ‘plastic lunch boxes’ under the ban.

The entrepreneur noted that there are different types of plastic containers in the market, including some that are reusable.

“That’s a clarification that needs to be had,” the importer said. “Are they going to allow reusable containers? And if so, then what is ‘reusable’? The Government has not given me a definition for what they consider reusable. Nor have they given me a definition for what’s consider single use.”

Another importer, who also spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity, shared similar concerns, lamenting that the confusion surrounding the ban might affect his ability to fulfil contracts.

According to the importer, interactions with the Jamaica Customs Agency also indicate that it is unsure of how to execute the ban.

Further, the importer said he has sought clarity from the Government on the matter, but he is yet to receive any information.

“If we don’t know what is being banned and how it is being banned, then there is no way for us to be able to plan for carrying in paper. It would be stupid as a business person to bring in a product that is not going to sell at all,” the importer stated.

The Gleaner understands that a series of stakeholder meetings to discuss the ban, including with the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, has been scheduled for today.

Meanwhile, cookshop operator Carl Needham said he has been hearing about the impending ban and is in support of it. However, he is wary that it may not be effectively enforced.

“Everything wi see dem implement, after a while, we just nuh hear nothing and yuh see it come back inna di street,” he said.

Needham, who has been operating cookshops for more than three decades, remembers when he relied on bagasse lunch boxes and is ready to embrace them once more.

Mikhail Dockery, owner and operator of Bistro 23 at Heroes Circle in Kingston, said his restaurant stopped using the plastic lunch boxes in January as he had prepared for the ban to take effect last December.

He now serves his offerings in bagasse boxes of varying sizes, and although customers were reluctant at first, he said he eventually got their buy-in.

“We were using the kind of foam one which was imported at first, so the food would bleed into it, so we had to find the correct ones, and we think we kinda nail it now,” he said. “For the wetter stuff, you get two boxes instead of one, and then people used to the one box, so something basic as that was a problem at first, but after a while, they bought into it.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com