BELIZE CITY, Wed. Feb. 16, 2022– The amended Environmental Protection (Pollution from Plastics) Regulations, first put into effect by the Department of the Environment (DOE) in January 2022, has extended the phase-out timelines for the sale and possession of single-use plastics—thus shifting the dates on which all such sales and possession of such plastics must end to February 28 and March 31, 2022, respectively. The sale of prohibited single-use plastics was supposed to have ceased on April 15, 2021, while the possession of those plastics should have been outlawed on July 14, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, those deadlines, along with the deadline by which the manufacturing of prohibited products was to have come to an end, were extended.

Since April 2020, the importation of single-use plastics and styrofoam products has been prohibited, and a prohibition on the manufacturing of those products came into effect on January 31, 2022. And come March 31, all persons, businesses, and establishments will be banned from possessing single-use plastics. According to the Pollution from Plastics Regulations, any person found in violation, whether by importing, manufacturing, selling, or possessing these prohibited items, will be committing an offence and will be liable to summary conviction.

The Environmental Protection Regulations’ list of prohibited items includes styrofoam containers like clamshells, plates, cups and lids, and soup containers; styrofoam and plastic plates; plastic shopping bags and/or T-shirt bags; plastic cutlery and eating utensils such as forks, knives, spoons, and sporks; and disposable drinking straws, as well as plastic plates, bowls, and cups. According to the Regulations, however, the products listed should not include products used for medical or pharmaceutical purposes or health and safety purposes unless a reasonable alternative already exists on the local market. The DOE has stated that it plans to continue working alongside the Belize Bureau of Standards in monitoring and enforcing these regulations.

In the past few years, countries across the globe have begun to implement plans for banning single-use plastics and styrofoam in the hopes of bringing an end to plastic pollution. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, a total of 170 nations have pledged to reduce the use of plastics by the year 2030. Just recently, on February 13, the country of Chile implemented a law banning single-use plastics and is now requiring businesses to switch to biodegradable alternatives within the next 3 years—a move which will hopefully prevent the dumping of a yearly total of over 20,000 metric tons of plastic.

Anyone seeking more information regarding Belize’s ban on single-use plastics can contact the Department of the Environment at 822-2548 or 822-2819, email the Department at [email protected] or [email protected], or visit their website at www.doe.gov.bz