As of 1 June, single-use plastic bags will be banned and companies producing them will face legal penalties.
The plan was announced by Prime Minister Edi Rama in September last year, shortly after his government received a third mandate.
“Starting from June next year, we will indefinitely ban all plastic bags. There will be no tolerance. We’re not the first to do this and we should have done it a long time ago. My message for the industries producing plastic bags is to not ask for any leeway because this is only causing more damage to the future of our country,” Rama said at the time.
He said that not only will bags be banned, but they will annul any permits allowing the collection of recyclable waste from bins will be annulled.
In a post on Facebook on Monday morning, Rama posted a reminder.
“From Wednesday starts a new era for patriotic Albania, with the ban of single-used plastic bags in favour of protecting our homeland.”
The ban will come into force on Children’s Day which is celebrated on 1 June every year in Albania
However, a ban on lightweight plastic bags was already enforced as of 4 July 2018, making it illegal to import, manufacture, use, sell, or bring such bags into the country.
The at-the-time Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism said that lightweight bags have no recycling value as ““plastic bags must have a minimum thickness of 35 microns in order to be reusable and have a recycling value”. She said the decision was aimed at the production of multi-purpose biodegradable bags that can biodegrade in 36 months.
The problem is that Albania does not have any state recycling facilities so there is nowhere for any plastic items to be recycled. Furthermore, the apparently bio-degradable bags can only biodegrade when exposed to oxygen. There have also been several studies that suggest the bags are not as biodegradable as they seem.
Janë lumenjtë tanë🤦🏻♀️
Janë plazhet tona 🤦🏻♀️
Janë plehrat plastike që prodhojmë!
E kemi në dorë t’i zhdukim lemeritë e qeseve nëpër lumenj e plazhe
💥Prandaj nisim prej 1️⃣ qershorit me ndalimin e qeseve plastike njëpërdorimshe.
Pazaret vetëm me trasta 😀👜#ThuajiJOqesevePlastike⛔️ pic.twitter.com/IJyMCz5Kre— Mirela Kumbaro (@MirelaKumbaro) May 30, 2022
But now all plastic bags will be banned. It remains to see how this will work in practice and if shops will comply with the new rules, and how consumers will react.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism explained to “Monitor” that the ban is only for disposable bags with a thickness of up to 70 microns on each side with a carrying capacity of not less than 10 kg and dimensions of not less than 50 cm in length and 24 cm in width, not including the width of the fold.
In other words, those bags used for fruit and vegetables that are somewhat thin will be banned, while thicker ones used for all groceries are considered reusable and are not.
