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Mozambican Minister of Land and Environment Ivete Maibasse has announced plans to submit a law aiming to ban the use of plastic bags in the country as an effort to reduce harmful practices to public health, infrastructures and the environment. The county will give the private sector one year to prepare before the law is fully implemented.

Responding to this development, Greenpeace Africa’s Plastics Project Lead, Angelo Louw has said:

“Despite the plastic industry and corporations lobbying for an expansion of their polluting plastic, Africa continues to make great strides to reduce plastic pollution. Mozambique follows similar steps by 34 other countries in Africa that have either passed a law banning plastics and implemented it or have passed a law with the intention of implementation. The continent is leading the way in the fight against plastic pollution. 

“Single-use plastic is an increasing global environmental threat. Plastic materials, their chemical composition, including their additives, pose great risks to the environment, marine life and human health. Greenpeace Africa is calling on the Mozambican Minister of Land and Environment to ensure strict enforcement and implementation of the ban.

“Even though there have been teething problems when it comes to the implementation of some of these legislations, a recent UN Environmental report indicated that these bans are working effectively in Africa, where plastic waste is often burned.”

Issued by Greenpeace Africa