Lower Town in Statia littered with garbage, including plastics, during the Easter celebration.
ST. EUSTATIUS--The ban on single-use plastic is now a reality in St. Eustatius. The waste ordinance for the banning of single-use plastic materials and single-use shopping bags has been approved. The ordinance went into effect as of April 1.
The main goal for implementing the ban is to reduce the amount of waste generated on the island and to create a cleaner environment for inhabitants and visitors.
Stakeholders will be given a grace period of two months to use up their current stock of single-use products and a period of six months to use up all single-use shopping bags. After this period elapses, all remaining banned items must be destroyed.
The public entity has agreed to adapt a phase-out approach to the products now used. The phase-out approach began on April 1, the implementation date of the ordinance, and ends in two to six months, depending on the product.
The products that will be restricted are single-use shopping bags, plastic straws, plastic stirrers, plastic utensils, plastic plates, plastic cups, plastic soup bowls, plastic cotton swabs, plastic balloon confetti. Also, Styrofoam food containers and cups are prohibited.
To facilitate the process, the public entity St. Eustatius agrees to distribute “free of charge” alternative materials to registered stakeholders. “This way we allow the stakeholders to sample alternative materials as it relates to quality, durability and size of the alternative materials. It is an effort to assist with their decision-making process on which materials to buy,” said Economy, Infrastructure and Nature (ENI) Economic Development Policy Advisor Arlene Spanner.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands is committed to assist St. Eustatius with the banning of single-use plastics, it was stated in a press release from Statia’s Government Information Services (GIS).
A declaration of intent was signed between the State Secretary of Infrastructure and Water Management and the public entity St. Eustatius in July 2019. In December 2019, a decision was taken by the Executive Council to form an integral work group that would facilitate the planning and execution.
