DILI, 23 august 2022 (TATOLI) – The United Nations Member States (UN) develop a new convention to battle plastic waste.
“This convention aims to reduce pollution at the global level,” Environmental Minister, Demétrio Amaral told Tatoli, in Bebora, Dili.
Demétrio admitted that as the new State, Timor-Leste should adopt new habits to battle the plastic waste crisis, as other developed countries have done.
“The country proposing this new convention is Ecuador,” he explained.
In this regard, Amaral recalled the two laws and regulations developed by the agency, one on the protection and conservation of biodiversity (36/2020) and the other on the Disposal, Import, and Production of Bags, Packaging, and other is the single use of Plastic Items (37/2020), both to fight plastic waste.
“We now need to create a mechanism for the collection and processing of plastic waste. It is also necessary to make regulations that include sanctions for everyone who uses single-use plastic every day,” he explained.
He also mentioned that most of the waste is not put in containers, because the residents do not have sufficient environmental education.
“Around the capital city we see garbage on the ground, in sewers, in the sea, and so on. Which in the end can lead to flooding and kill all the biodiversity”
About the amount of plastic waste in the capital, the Regional Secretary said the daily production is around 200 tons.
According to a 2016 study by the Asian Development Bank, 45% of waste is dumped in the Tibar TPA, 33% is burned, 6% is buried and the rest is dumped in inappropriate places.
To reduce the amount of waste, the government prohibits companies from importing single-use plastic bags, Styrofoam, and plastic glasses.
“Many companies are worried about the zero plastic policy because they are not ready to replace the material.”
Amaral also informed that the company of Caltech recycles a ton of plastic every day and has ordered a new machine that will allow it to double its daily recycling.
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) approved, on March 2 this year, an agreement to create the first global agreement to combat plastic pollution.
The organization considers the resolution will generate the greatest environmental impact since the sgining of the Paris Agreement, which was held on 2015.
The member states of the organization debated the topic for more than a week in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. With the agreement, the United Nations paved the way to curb the growth of plastic pollution worldwide, which affects a wide variety of biomes, from oceans to green areas.
Journalist: Camilo de Sousa
Editor:Nelia B.
