YEREVAN (Armenpress) — The use of plastic bags will be banned in Armenia starting on January 1, 2022, but with some exceptions, the government announced on January 23.
Deputy Minister of Environment Irina Ghaplanyan said at a press conference that exceptions will include the bags for food packaging, trash bags which are made of a secondary raw material. The alternative to plastic bags will be paper and cloth bags.
“At this period we are actively working with all concerned. We held discussions with the representatives of bag producers, restaurants, stores and NGOs. We introduced them the program details. We have started the awareness campaign two years before the launch of the ban so that the producers can revise their work and consume the production volumes,” Ghaplanyan said.
The head of the department of environmental strategy programs and monitoring at the ministry, Lusine Avetisyan, said a large volume of plastic bags is circulated in Armenia annually. But after this ban comes into force it is expected to get 4,000 tons of plastic bags out of circulation.
“The plastic bags, which later turn into waste, are not degraded for years, which negatively affects our environment. This change is not going to be an additional burden for the consumer, as there will be an alternative to the plastic bags,” Avetisyan said.
The ministry will carry out an active awareness-raising work among the public to make them know what negative impact the plastic bags, the plastic in general have on the human health and the environment.
