In 2020, the bill to ban single use plastics was passed - and today the Department of the Environment sent out a notice that it intends to strictly enforce the regulations.
The standards for biodegradable plastics were set out in 2022 which requires that plastic products have to be made up of 50% or more of a bio-based content, and it has to bio degrade within 365 days.
But when the Department of the Environment did market surveillance in late 2022, they found that many of the products did not. Meet that standard. Today, via zoom, the Chief environmental Officer told us more:
Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer
"So what we did is we took 17 companies and we took samples from the products that they import and manufacture. So we did 13 importers and four manufacturers, and we sent these products abroad to be tested."
"The information that we got back from the lab was quite alarming. In fact, it showed that the high number of products on the market indeed were not, indeed, biodegradable products. And so then we decided we said, well, what do we need to do to strengthen this process?"
"So when we when we received the results of the conformity assessment, we met with all the importers and manufacturers, the ones that we tested the products with, and we gave them the results from the lab."
"And we said, you know what, the products that you are importing are not meeting the national standard based on the sample that we did. And so we are giving you a time period for you to, again, do away with the stockpile and then when you want to apply… and then we will deregister that product. So we have registered all the products that we tested. When the importer wants to apply to import a new product, they would have to provide samples to us. We would test it in our lab or at the university of the lab, and then we will know if the product meets the standards or not. Once it meets the standard, we would allow it to come into the country."
"We are at a point now where we feel quite comfortable that we are now able to properly enforce the regulations and hold people who are in violation accountable for the action."
"So really and truly, the press release informs, in particular the store owners or people who are selling these products, especially at the supermarket, that the department will be conducting assessments, we'll be taking samples of these products. And if the products are not meeting the standard, they will be charged under the law. The penalties for being, in both importation, for manufacturing and for selling products that are not according to the standard, is between $10,000 and $20,000 Belize Dollars."
Mai conceded that some importers are still smuggling single use plastics into the country.
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