On Wednesday, Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, signed a decree banning the use of plastic bags in 102 coastal regions (cities and villages) of the country.
The ban officially only applies to the coastal regions of Chile, but it is reported that it "will allow other regions to join the project to limit or stop the use of plastic bags." The goal of the initiative is to prevent the emergence of new ocean plastic debris. to improve the state of marine ecosystems in this way : “Our fish are dying due to ingestion of plastic or suffocation - this is a task in which everyone should take part,” Bachelet said. The fine for using or distributing plastic bags in the coastal areas of the South American country is 300 USD.
The Chilean government plans to create by 2018 marine protected areas with a total area of 1.6 million km2 . And the absence of plastic in them is an obvious desire for the conservation of marine ecosystems. Previously, scientists have proven that even zooplankton eats microplastics in the ocean, and according to one of the global forecasts, by 2050 more than 99% of seabirds will eat plastic . According to Chile's Ministry of the Environment, 90% of seabirds already have plastic in their intestines. And according to information from the Chilean division of Greenpeace, most of the plastic garbage that can be found along the country's coast is left by urban Chileans who come on vacation.
In July this year, at the initiative of the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, ten local manufacturers of popular plastic products signed an agreement aimed at promoting the use of recycled plastic in packaging .” Organizations such as Coca-Cola Chile, Asipla (a plastics industry association), and Clorox (a major manufacturer of household chemicals) have pledged to pursue the country's "new plastic economy" principle.
Today, the average Chilean produces about 1.25 kg of garbage per day . Therefore, earlier this year, the same Ministry sponsored an initiative in northern Chile to promote the idea of reducing plastic (and other) waste through educational programs about the impact of plastic on the environment. In 2016, the Chilean Ministry of the Environment also conducted a survey of more than 1,000 farmers on how they use and dispose of plastic to identify problems with the use of plastic in agriculture.
See also anekdotig:
- News: " Coca-Cola has changed its mind and approved a refund of the deposit for bottles of drinks in Scotland " (February 23, 2017)
- News: " France bans single-use plastic bags in stores " (July 1, 2016)
- Newsletter: " San Francisco introduces a ban on the sale of water in small plastic bottles " (January 14, 2016)
- News: " Mr. Garbage Wheel Collected 350 Tons of Ocean Trash in Baltimore, USA in 1.5 Years " (December 25, 2015)
- News: " Hawaii becomes first U.S. state to 'ban' plastic bags " (July 12, 2015)
- Article: " Proper Waste Management ".
- Article: " Ocean garbage islands - a new heritage of civilization ."
- Photo article: "7 days of garbage" in photographs by Gregg Segal .
- Video: What can we do to reduce ocean debris? - informative short film .
- Video: " Plastic bottles and ocean pollution ".
- Advice: " Write to product manufacturers to stop plastic packaging " (July 27, 2015)