North African country Tunisia has announced that beginning March 1st, it will begin to phase out plastic bags by 2021. Plastic pollution is a growing problem around the world and North Africa is no exception.
Supermarkets and pharmacies will be the first to stop using single-use plastics starting in March.
The government said that all reusable bags with a thickness of fewer than 40 micrometers will be banned, along with any bags that have a capacity of fewer than 30 liters. Any bags larger and thicker will be allowed to remain in circulation. This could cause problems in the future as it has in the UK.
Founder of the Association Tuniso-Méditerranéenne de l’Environnement, Wassim Chaabane talks about Tunisia’s growing plastic problem:
We have become addicted to single-use or disposable plastic — with severe environmental consequences. In Tunisia, more than 4.2bn single-use plastic bags are consumed, where 1.2bn bags are imported informally.
Plastic accounts for nearly 90% of the debris in our oceans and plastic bags take anywhere from 400 to 1,000 years to break down. Even when they do break down, they end up forming microplastics that are undetectable by the human eye.
In 2016 Tunisia tried to ban plastic only to be dissuaded by big business who clamored that it would leave many people out of work. Some stores did, however, decide to stop issuing free bags and started charging for stronger bags instead, which did decrease the number of bags.
The Guardian reported that discarded plastic bags have become a common sight in Tunisia. Having an increasingly harmful effect on the countries natural wildlife and marine ecosystems.
Chebli Hedi, the General Director of Environment and Quality of Life at the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment left a comment:
Since the revolution, we have had serious difficulty in different areas and different cities with plastic bags, which are small and have been thrown away and disturb the environment. With the environment, you cannot say: ‘This is very big, so we need to start with it,’ or: ‘This is very small, so I can ignore it.’ With the environment, everything counts.
Hedi pointed out that unlike in 2016, this time the single-use plastic ban came after receiving public support along with voluntary support from supermarkets and pharmacies.
The environmental group Break Free From Plastic has helped to apply pressure by raising environmental awareness.
The world still faces many challenges including plastic straws and plastic packaging materials, but small steps lead to big changes. In the fight against climate change, banning single-use plastic is a good step for a country that is being overwhelmed by plastic waste.
