PHILIPSBURG--A ban on single-use plastic bags, particularly shopping bags, would be a small, but important step for the country in waste management and environmental care, said Democratic Party leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.
The MP is working on an initiative draft law to amend the General Police Ordinance to ban single-use plastic bags as one way of tackling the country’s mounting garbage disposal woes. These bags are also a major environmental threat to local wildlife and are often found clogging waterways which, at times, contributes to flooding.
Nature Foundation Manager Tadzio Bervoets was one of the first stakeholders Wescot-Williams met with about her approach to banning the single-use bags.
There is already a draft initiative law with Parliament, dating back to 2014, that seeks to address the same matter, however, the draft does this in a more indirect way.
“My proposal is to amend the General Police Ordinance and prohibit the use of plastic bags,” she noted in a press statement on Monday. “This of course will require the input and cooperation of stakeholders, not only environmental organisations, but also suppliers, supermarkets, etc.” The approach by Wescot-Williams is modelled after the one taken by Aruba, which is already in force.
Coincidentally, in one of its recent reports regarding the dump, Nature Foundation recommended a ban on plastic bags and Styrofoam containers.
Her next step is to broaden the circle of stakeholders and decide together on the next steps.
