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The government’s ‘green’ policy to introduce a ban on plastic bags in an effort to reduce waste and pollution of non-recyclable materials, seems to refer only to the colour of money and not the environmental impact such a move has had in other countries.
Six months ago, parliament passed a bill obliging shop owners to charge 6c per bag, resulting in consumers blurting out a resounding NO, as a result of which the use of plastic bags has been slashed by 80% of the 106 mln pieces distributed each year.
Commendable as the measure may be, it does not help the environment, it does not clean the seas and beaches, and does not reduce the plastic mounds at waste management sites.
Plastic bags are just the tip of the iceberg of the amount of non-recyclable material that is dumped, with the usual “not in my back yard” mentality caring less about the impact this will have on next generations.
Members of parliament who passed this flawed bill are probably saying they won’t be around in several decades from now, thus unconcerned what this will do to our planet, the flora and fauna, and of course the sub-surface water deposits.
By then, they probably argue, Cyprus will have started exporting billions worth of natural gas, so we can afford to clean the mess up, or at least get the next generation to do it.
It would be interesting to note how much the supermarkets, groceries, retailers and bakeries have raked in from the 6c surcharge, which they claim will be used to raise awareness about the harm of plastic bag use. An oxymoron, reminding of the fox guarding the hens.
The stupid excuse for this amount not going to a state ‘green fund’ that would be charged with clean-up projects and other measures to help improve the environment, was that the Ministry of Finance was not in a position to undertake the added cost of monitoring this cash-cow.
Typical of civil servants who are averse to creative thinking and worse, of the competent minister who has yet to realise the ethical side of the argument.
With the inflated cost of 2c per bag, as presented by the supermarket owners, the state is losing a cool 3-3.5 mln a year, enough to pay for the wages of the civil servants who did not bother to show up to the parliamentary committee debates.
Instead, this is a few additional million going into the coffers of supermarkets and retailers who are delighted with the new legislation that obliges consumers to pay for their own bags.
Of course, they will argue that the money is being used to raise awareness about plastic waste, while in fact, it has also bolstered their promotional budgets, with us, the consumers, paying for the advertisements we are watching on TV.
What a waste of effort and potential funding for environmental projects. Do the ‘green’ deputies and the Environment Commissioner have anything to say?
