Tunisia banned the use of non-compliant plastic bags from September, Czech President Zeman signed a plastic restriction order
Tunisia, the northernmost country on the African continent, has joined the ranks of banning plastic bags. On August 31, the country's Ministry of Environment issued a statement saying that according to relevant laws and regulations, non-compliant plastic bags will be banned from circulation nationwide from September 1.
The Tunisian environment ministry said in a statement that, according to previously issued regulations, the Tunisian government will prohibit the circulation of plastic bags that do not meet the required thickness, heavy metal content, and biodegradation requirements in all business premises. The Ministry of Environment of Tunisia hopes to significantly reduce the pollution caused by plastic bags to the local environment by the end of 2024.
In recent years, plastic pollution has been a growing problem in North African countries. Randomly discarded plastic bags have become a basic sight in Tunisia. Even entire trees are covered with plastic bags. The country's land and marine ecosystems have been completely covered by plastic items. Pollution. Due to the over-reliance of human beings on single-use plastic bags, the result is serious environmental damage. In Tunisia, the country consumes more than 4.2 billion single-use plastic bags, of which 1.2 billion are brought into the country by informal bags. These plastic bags are small in size and people's habit is to throw them away after use.
In fact, Tunisia tried to implement a plastic bag ban in 2016, but unfortunately it failed due to opposition from the business community. Although it failed, it has driven major supermarkets across the country to no longer provide free plastic bags and replace them with charged durable bags, which greatly reduces the use of disposable plastic bags. In addition to the single-use plastic bag problem, Tunisia has many major environmental challenges to face. For example, the use of plastic straws and plastic molds for commercial packaging is still very high.
In addition, Tunisia's over-reliance on old-fashioned heavy industry, including the production of phosphates, has rendered the country's entire land and coastline unusable. While the government has made some progress in curbing pollution, any measure seen as potentially damaging to industry in a country with an unemployment rate of just 15 percent is likely to be controversial.
