BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Barbados has become the latest Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to announce a ban on the importation, retail, sale and use of petro-based single use plastic products.

It said that products such as single-use plastic cups; cutlery, including plastic knives, forks and spoons; stirrers; straws; plates; egg trays — both plastic and Styrofoam —and Styrofoam containers used in the culinary retail industry will be banned from April 1.

Jamaica, St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda are among CARICOM countries that have already instituted or announced plans to ban the use of these plastic products.

Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Minister, Kirk Humphrey, and Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Trevor Prescod, made the announcement regarding the ban.

Humphrey said that with effect from January 1, 2020, there will be a ban on all petro-based plastic bags, with the exemption of those used for the packaging of pharmaceuticals/ medicines, hygiene and the preservation of food.

In addition, a moratorium has been extended on the use of tetra pack straws, while poultry producers have been given more time to find alternatives to the Styrofoam trays used to package chickens.

“Barbados has to be a value-driven country. We have large expectations for ourselves. We have said that we want to be fossil fuel free by 2030; we want to have a renewable platform; we want to be a country that when we speak to the world we speak as an environmentally friendly country and destination.

“[Therefore] these are the things that we must do if our words and our actions are to be aligned.  And so, we have made ourselves clear as to where we stand on single-use plastic,” Humphrey said.

He said the decision came after months of consultation with stakeholders, including plastic bag manufacturers, persons in the poultry industry, the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Customs Department, and importers.

Humphrey said that the ban on petro-based plastic bags was extended until January 1, 2020, to allow manufacturers to come up with alternative ways of making plastic bags from a bio-based material that was environmentally healthy and friendly.

“We do not wish to come to an established industry that employs Barbadians and deprive them of opportunity, but we also know that the cost of continuing to use these things in Barbados will outweigh any potential benefits,” he said.

Prescod said that plastic bottles used in the production of juices will not be subjected to the ban.  He added that the required legislation needed to be in place to allow consumers to take the bottles back to the suppliers to be part of a recycling process.