RWANDA – Rwanda’s cabinet has approved a draft law that seeks to impose a ban on the use of single use of plastics, a move that retaliates the country’s commitment in environmental protection, reports New Times. The draft law, which relates to prohibition of manufacturing, use, and sale of single use plastic items, now awaits…
SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s largest supermarket chain, Shoprite has announced that it will pay customers for reusing its newly introduced ‘planet’ plastic bags in an effort to control plastic pollution, reports Business Day. According to a Business Day report, Shoprite will reward customers who reuses its 100% recycled and recyclable plastic bag with 50c…
UK - The UK government is seeking to ban the distribution and sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds to try to force businesses to offer readily available non-plastic alternatives. According to Michael Gove, a British politician, the ban would come into force at some point between October 2019 and October 2020, subject…
ISRAEL - SodaStream International Ltd., an Israel-based manufacturing company, has announced the launch of the "Holy Turtle" - a massive ocean contraption designed to clean plastic waste from open waters. According to the company, the innovative device will be initially piloted in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Roatán, Honduras, as part of a…
SINGAPORE - Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA) governing board chairman, Albert Lim has said that the current landfill for packaging waste will be full by 2035 given a limited land space. According to him, a taskforce which recommended voluntary agreement towards waste management was set up in January 2007 with a goal to look into the…
KENYA - The government of Kenya represented by the office of the Attorney General (AG) has failed to meet a seven-day deadline that required it to provide defence against a Nairobi-based manufacturer who is seeking a US$19 million compensation following plastic bags ban. According to Business Daily, the manufacturer, Hi-Plast Limited is also seeking to…
NIGERIA - The Lagos State government has indicated interest to partner with the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) on the eradication of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles that are improperly disposed thereby blocking drainages and canals in our environment. According to FBRA, it stated that the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, disclosed…
UK - Tesco shoppers can now claim 10p for every plastic bottle they return to selected stores, under a new trial announced by the supermarket giant as part of its efforts to reduce plastic waste, using the reverse vending machines at the stores. The in-store recycling machines, which are already in place at some rival…
EUROPE – Nestlé, a Swiss transnational food and drink company, has pledged to make a significant increase in the amount of recycled plastics it uses in some of its packaging in the European Union. By 2025, bottles, PET layer in laminates, caps on glass jars and tins, trays for meat products and shrink films for…
EU - The Union of European Soft Drinks Associations (Unesda) has set new sustainable packaging goals, including a commitment to ensure that 100% of soft drinks plastic packaging across the EU will be recyclable by 2025. According to FoodBev, other commitments made by the Union include a target to ensure that PET bottles used for…
