Russia plans to ban the use of disposable plastics by 2024, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov said Thursday.
Banned goods would include disposable plastic straws, plates, glasses, lids and appliances; coffee capsules; cotton swabs; opaque and colored PET (thermoplastic polyester) bottles; boxes and packs for tobacco products; blister packaging (except for medicines); egg cartons; and several types of bags.
“We’re proposing to introduce the ban gradually so production can be reorganized. In 2024, the ban should be final,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted Kozlov as saying on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
Kozlov said his ministry and the Industry and Trade Ministry are coordinating on the list of 28 disposable plastic products that would fall under the ban.
He also suggested finding alternatives to single-use plastics such as packaging made from natural materials like wood or paper.
“We suggest replacing opaque plastic bottles with transparent ones that are easy to recycle. Disposable plates can be made from pulp cartons; straws can be made of wood or replaced with special paper ones. All these technologies exist and are already being used," Kozlov said.
In May, Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said the government plans to impose a legislative ban on certain types of plastic products, including straws, cotton swabs and disposable tableware.
The planned ban comes as countries seek to take greater action to cut down on plastic pollution, much of which ends up in the world’s oceans. In 2019, 170 countries including Russia pledged to “significantly reduce” their use of single-use plastics by 2030.
