Environmental union renews calls for regulating use of black plastic bags

AMMAN — The Jordan Environmental Union (JEU) has called for increased partnership with Chambers of Commerce and Industry as well as various business associations to address the issue of black plastic bags as environmental pollutants.

“The government cannot solve the problem without partnership,” JEU President Omar Shoshan told The Jordan Times on Thursday.
The government has been working on a viable solution to replacing black plastic bags for six years, but the issue still persists, according to Shoshan.

There are several challenges obstructing possible solutions to this issue. For example, Shoshan said, there are many companies which manufacture black plastic bags, including companies who do not have the proper license to do so.
Black plastic bags are actively harmful to local ecosystems and the environment, he added. “The government should give incentives to factories to produce environment friendly bags,” he said.

Shopkeepers commonly give out black plastic bags for free, which is another problem, he added. “Instead they should charge money for them,” Shoshan said.

Abu Mohammad, who owns a supermarket, said that he uses black bags because they are cheap.

"I use black plastic bags because they are cheap; I cannot use environmentally friendly bags because they are expensive,” the shopkeeper said.

In 2017, Jordan issued regulations prohibiting the use and production of all black plastic bags, excluding cases in which black bags are used for waste collection. It also obliges manufacturers to indicate whether or not a plastic bag is biodegradable and has the approval of the Environment Ministry and other relevant authorities with a symbol on the bag.