Starting from 2019, Moldova will begin to refuse plastic bags, reports Sputnik.md.

The refusal will take place in several stages, said Svetlana Bolokan, head of the pollution prevention and waste management department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and the Environment.

Packages will be withdrawn from commercial circulation, depending on the thickness of the material from which they are made. So, next year they will ban the sale of packages with a thickness exceeding 50 microns, in 2020 – less than 50 microns. Thin packages that are currently sold in supermarkets should disappear from circulation in 2021.

As Bolokan noted, annually each resident of Moldova uses about 150 plastic bags. Solving the problem with the help of their processing is not possible, since it is not always cost-effective. After use, the packages are usually polluted, and additional resources, in particular, electricity, need to be spent on cleaning such raw materials.

“We have very few processing companies that could utilize these products. They need to be brought to the quality of recycled materials so that other components can be produced,” explained Bolokan.

Rag bags, shopping bags and paper bags – not the only alternative to polyethylene. As explained Bolokan, packages can be made from biodegradable material, for example, from starch.

New technologies must be introduced within three years, so that by 2021 citizens will have more than to replace the usual plastic bags. Additional responsibilities will fall on importers of this type of product.

“We are currently developing a regulatory act that will regulate specific actions for the disposal of all types of packages. Therefore, suppliers will have the responsibility to remove certain packages from the entire system, that is, a fixed percentage. We set a goal to return the waste,” said Bolokan.

It is assumed that a common system will be created, which will display deliveries to the country of packaging material. Along with it, a reporting system will be introduced for the removal of already used packaging.

In the meantime, as the official explained, supermarkets are offered to contribute to the fight against plastic bags. One of the ideas is to encourage citizens who come to a large network with a package already used from the same company. It is possible that such buyers will make a discount.

Earlier it was reported that in Georgia in order to reduce environmental pollution, since October 1 of this year, the production, import and sale of oxo-degradable plastic bags less than 15 microns thick are prohibited.

In New Zealand, disposable plastic bags will also be banned from July 2019.
In early August, banned the use of disposable plastic bags banned in Chile. Other countries that have banned the use of plastic bags include Zimbabwe, Australia, the United Kingdom and Kenya.