Jamaicans Urged to Be More Involved in Efforts to Ban Plastic Use

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaicans are being urged to play a more active role in driving the shift toward environmentally friendly alternatives as the country now enters the fourth phase of its national single-use plastic ban.

Chief Technical Director (CTD) for Development Planning, Environment Policy and Management in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Gillian Guthrie, has underscored the power of consumer choice in reducing the prevalence of plastic waste, particularly problematic items that already have sustainable substitutes available.

“We’re encouraging Jamaicans to be very conscious in their consumerism. When you go to the supermarket, when you go to the cook shop, when you go on the streets to the fruit vendor, ask for the environmentally friendly [packaging],” she told a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.

Jamaica’s plastic ban, which began in 2018, was designed to phase out non-biodegradable and environmentally harmful plastic items. The move was motivated by concerns about human and environmental health, particularly due to microplastics, which are tiny particles that emerge when plastics break down in the environment.

Guthrie said plastics are non-biodegradable products, especially in the natural environment, taking decades and sometimes hundreds of years to decompose.

“And even when they decompose, they break down into smaller particles called microplastics, which pose a threat to marine life, as some marine animals may ingest them and they go up the food chain.”

Items included in the ban are single-use plastic bags measuring 24×24 inches with a thickness of 2.5ml or more; plastic drinking straws made from polyethylene or polypropylene; expanded polystyrene foam used in food containers (commonly referred to as Styrofoam); and cosmetic or personal-care products that contain microbeads.

“We are at the point where the government is now trying to ensure that the consumer has environmentally friendly options to replace those items which we do not need because the alternatives are available on the market,” she said, referencing the latest phase of the ban.

Director for Environmental Management and Conservation at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Anthony McKenzie, who participated in the Think Tank, expressed full support for the plastic ban.

“NEPA has been a vocal advocate of the phased ban since its introduction, backing government measures targeting single-use plastic bags, straws, polystyrene food containers, and now, plastic food packaging,” he said.

McKenzie providing a solution to the banned food containers, encouraged consumers to use biodegradable paperboard alternatives, noting that, “one of the biggest challenges we face is having consumers tell us that some of the plastic containers that they get from food establishments are not single use”.

“These containers are classified as single-use and are, therefore, banned, and that persons found using single-use plastics in commercial quantities will face prosecution and can face fines of anywhere between J$5,000,000 and J$10,000,000,” he noted.