‘Choose eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics’- Department of Environment
DPI, GUYANA, Tuesday, June 12, 2018
The Department of Environment (DOE) is calling on citizens to choose eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics as Government embarks on a public awareness campaign in preparation for the ban on single-use plastics.
Statistics from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) show that more than seven thousand to as much as ten thousand tonnes of single-use plastics are taken to our landfill annually with ten percent being generated in the Capital alone.
The DOE is proposing eco-friendly alternatives such the use of cloth bags, bamboo utensils and paper containers.
Single-use plastics have low recycling capacity, are made of polyethylene (PET) and are environmentally persistent, which means they take thousands of years to break down.
Additionally, they are made from crude oil, natural gas and what are known as petrochemical derivatives, which pose threats to the environment, human and marine life.
Plastic pollution is threatening our ecosystem, biodiversity and health at a pace and scale never seen before.
Guyana as a leader in biodiversity conservation and environmental management has begun to take steps to reduce the use of plastics and the impacts they have on the environment.
One such initiative undertaken by the DOE are the consultations with supermarkets. It is the Department’s intention to have wider consultations starting at the school level.
The proposed ban will be imposed on the importation, manufacture and sale of single-use plastic bags and other single-use plastic products such as food containers.
By: Stacy Carmichael.