President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has issued a decree banning the production and sale of 13 types of single-use plastic in the Maldives. The decree was issued under the powers vested in the president under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act of the Maldives.
As per the presidential decree, production and sale of 13 types of single-use plastics have been banned in the Maldives, effective from different dates next year. As such, plastic bags below 30cm x 30cm and plastic straws, cutlery, stirrers, plates and cups below 250ml are banned effective from June 2022. In addition, production and sale of imported beverages in plastic packages that are below 500ml, supari in plastic packaging, plastic stemmed cotton buds and Styrofoam lunch boxes have also been banned effective from June 2022.
Other banned items include plastic bags which are less than 50 microns thick, plastics made from oxo-degradable synthetic polymers and shampoo, soap, conditioner and lotion packaged in 50-200ml plastic bottles. These items cannot be produced and sold after December 2022.
The plan to phase out the use of single-use plastic is a national initiative to phase out the production, importation and consumption of certain single-use plastics into the Maldives, in the effort to protect human health, and the vulnerable marine environment of the country. The government is committed to phasing out single-use plastics in the Maldives by 2023, as per the Parliament Resolution of 2019 and the declaration made by President Solih at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2019.