According to the Technical Regulation of the Government of Georgia, plastic bags that are less than 15 microns thick will be banned beginning October 1, 2018. Furthermore, selling, importing, and producing plastic bags will be prohibited starting April 1, 2019. Within the same regulation, selling, importing, and producing oxo-degradable plastic bags will also be banned.
Based on the regulation, the following institutions will control selling, importing, and producing plastic, biodegradable and compostable bags:
Producing plastic bags – Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Environmental Supervision Department
Importing plastic bags – Ministry of Finance of Georgia
Selling plastics bags – Local municipalities
Currently, plastic pollution is one of the world’s most serious environmental problems. To effectively address this problem, every person needs to realize the core of the problem and actively reduce the amount of waste generated in their lives. In addition, it is essential to implement policy change on a global scale, including raising awareness concerning littering and its negative environmental impact, supporting recycling and reducing the production and consumption of plastic. At this point, less must be more.
The production of plastic mostly began in the middle of the 20th century. According to researchers at leading universities in the United States, plastic production amounted to 2 million tons in 1950, while in 2015 its annual production amounted to 380 million tons.
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According to data, half the amount of plastic produced during 1950-2015 has been produced in the past 3 years. Consequently, plastic production has an annually increasing trend and by 2050, around 12 billion tons of plastic is expected to accumulate in landfills and in the environment.
Every year 8 million tons of plastic end up in oceans, killing marine life and negatively impacting marine ecosystems. When disposed in the environment, plastic does not decompose easily or immediately, thereby negatively impacting the environment.
