Earth Today | Environment, business interests raise concerns over plastics ban

MORE THAN two years into the imposition of a phased ban on plastics in Jamaica, players from the environment and business sectors are concerned over its efficiency and sustainability.

The island’s ban on plastics affects not only single-use plastic bags, but also packaging made wholly or in part of expanded polystyrene foam, or drinking straws made wholly or in part of polyethylene or polypropylene, manufactured for single use.

Among the concerns stakeholders have is that single-use plastic containers are being used as alternatives to styrofoam, as well as the adequacy of monitoring and enforcement.

“What often prevents effective environmental management in Jamaica is monitoring and enforcement failure. I don’t think there has been sufficient monitoring. Also, although we were told that fines for breaches would be heavy under the Trade Act, I have only seen reports of fines being applied under the NRCA (Natural Resources Conservation Authority) Act – and the level of those fines is insufficient to act as a deterrent,” said Diana McCaulay, founder of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET).

“We have been talking about increasing fines under the NRCA Act for at least 10 years. Also, we don’t seem to have any capacity, or even interest, in testing what is being claimed to be biodegradable, so anybody can claim a package is biodegradable, even when it is not,” she added.

Managing Director of We Alter Eco Limited Suraj Buxani shared McCaulay’s concern, noting that he had observed an apparent increase in single-use food boxes over recent months.

“Single-use plastic (containers) must not be the accepted alternative to styrofoam. If single-use plastic boxes are allowed, what was the purpose of implementing the ban in the first place?” he said.

McCaulay was of a similar view.

“I agree that styrofoam fast-food containers have substantially been replaced by similar containers. Also, styrofoam is still being used for a lot of unnecessary food packaging, such as vegetables, available in uptown supermarkets. I have heard the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) say in interviews that some people are using alternative containers made of things like bagasse or corn, but they never present numbers; and if you talk to fast food sellers, they tell you that these containers are more expensive and they don’t use them,” she said.

“I’m sure there are a minority of people using such containers – but it’s a minority. NEPA also does not seem to have any way of measuring if there is a decline in the use of non-biodegradable, single-use containers; at least I have not seen it,” the JET founder added.

For Buxani, there exists the need to look at incentives, given the current disparity with the duty charged on plastic products versus eco-friendly items. The current duty structure, he believes, gives the financial advantage to importers of plastics, since sustainable products tend to cost more than their plastic counterparts.

McCaulay agreed.

“People respond to incentives and sanctions. If the incentives (reduced duty) are in the wrong direction, and sanctions (fines) are rare or low, then there will be little change in the status quo,” she said.

For Professor Mona Webber, who heads the Centre for Marine Sciences at The University of the West Indies, it is time for a review of the ban.

“We started the ban two years ago, and so there is need for a review and refining to achieve our goals. The ban started with no importation of styrofoam; we probably need to go the next step of regulating what materials are allowed as alternatives,” she told The Gleaner.

Like McCaulay and Buxani, she also noted the need for incentives to encourage and sustain the type of behavioural change for which the ban is intended.

“We need to incentivise the use of biodegradable material,” she said.

Jamaica’s ban on plastics makes it illegal for any person “to manufacture or use any single-use plastic in commercial quantities”, according to the NRCA (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition) Order 2018. In addition, “no person shall import or distribute any single-use plastic in commercial quantities”, according to the Trade (Plastic Packaging Materials Prohibition) Order 2018.

To violate either order is to risk conviction and a fine not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment of up to two years in the case of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Order, and a fine of up to $2 million or up to two years behind bars in the case of the Trade Order.

The ban, meanwhile, is being implemented against the island producing a reported 650 million plastic bottles per year. Ten per cent is recycled and some 30 per cent is said to remain in the environment, while the material takes between 450 and 1,000 years to biodegrade.

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