NGO helping Gov’t reduce plastic waste

The Barbados government, in collaboration with United Kingdom-based NGO Common Seas, has launched a plan aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste on the island.

Speaking to the media at the launch of the National Action Plan to End Plastic Pollution, Waste Management Coordinator in the Project Management Unit at the Ministry of Environment, Thora Lord, said Barbadians would be educated on the significance of reducing the environmentally harmful waste.

“It is a plan to end plastic pollution here in Barbados. We are looking to do that through the implementation of five key strategies where we are going to look at: tackling single-use bottles, tackling single-use plastic bags and other single-use plastic items, implementing source separation, and of course, extended producer responsibility for those who bring in the plastics,” Lord said. “Then we are going to have downstream measures which look at how we collect waste and manage waste and avoid littering and dumping in our processes.”

The waste management expert added: “We are going to start with the children; there is going to be implementation of programmes in schools, teaching teachers how to put across this message of ending plastic pollution. One thing we are going to do very quickly is to work with the Division of Youth Affairs and implement some work in the summer camps, focusing on plastics, including marine plastics, [and] have them do some hands-on activities that bring them face to face with the problem and implement the solutions.”

Lord said the project,  a 10-year programme dealing with the management of plastic pollution, will commence in July.

She said that though a ban on the import, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic containers and other items came into force at the beginning of 2020, other plastics that are just as harmful can be found in Barbados.

“Even though we had stopped the importation of petroleum-based plastics, we still have these other plastics in the environment, and I don’t want people to think that they are compostable or biodegradable so we can throw them anywhere; that is definitely not the case. We still need to put them, most preferably, in a recycling programme,” Lord said.

Executive Director of Common Seas, Dr Charlotte Davies said the island was taking an important step in this initiative, helping to protect the environment and the health of its citizens.

“At Common Seas, we are really committed to stopping the flow of plastic pollution, to protect our oceans, our health, and our future. We know the negative effects it has on the environment – both the visible effects we can see with the plastic waste and also the effects we can’t see with greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. We also know with Common Seas’ own research, that plastic has a significant impact on human health.

“From Common Seas, I am incredibly proud to be partnering with Barbados with your visionary and ambitious approach, even ahead of any requirement that might come out through a global plastics treaty,” she said. (SB)