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Posted By: Marty D.O.E. to Crackdown on Single-use Plastics - 02/23/23 11:48 AM
Single-use plastics and Styrofoam are prohibited for use in Belize, but reports are that there is an importer operating out of western Belize who is still bringing in the banned materials. The Department of Environment is conducting an investigation and is also in the process of conducting an assessment of the existing materials that are presently in use across the country. Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai told us more about what is being done about the pollutant.

Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer


"We're still waiting. We haven't really honed in on the exact company that is bringing it in illegally, but we are still conducting our investigations. But in terms of the overall activity that we are doing with regards to the assessment, we have collected samples of registered biodegradable products countrywide. I think this week we will send those out to a laboratory in the United States to get tested and then when we get back the results we will be able to determine if the biodegradable products that are being implemented are really biodegradable and if they meet our national standards. So that will be the first step. We also, so we're doing two things. We're doing market surveillance and we're grabbing samples of some of the products to be tested. The market surveillance is still not yet completed. When it's completed, it will give us a good picture of what is in the market. The restricted products and some of the prohibited products that are still available. So we are still seeing some prohibited products and then we will develop a plan on how to deal with those."

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