Monaco to beat plastic pollution on World Environment Day

Initiated by the United Nations in 1972 in Stockholm, World Environment Day on June 5 will focus this year on the theme: #beatplasticpollution.

At least 1,800 billion pieces of plastic waste pollutes the oceans. Over the years, they have agglomerated into a huge mass, equivalent to three times the area of France, which continues to expand in the Pacific.

For the last ten years, the Principality has been committed to reducing the negative impacts of plastic on the environment: by enhancing selective sorting, enabling the plastic once collected in yellow bins to benefit from a second life, and by banning, since June 2016, single-use plastic bags.

The ban was extended on January 1, 2017, to all plastic bags for the packaging of bulk products on the shelves of food stores or on market stands. Only compostable bags consisting of at least 30 percent bio-sourced materials are allowed. (From January 1, 2020, disposable plastic kitchen utensils will also be banned.)

From 2017, eco-responsible solutions such as the use of tap water and water fountains have been encouraged within the State administration.

“As part of Monacology, which will take place from June 11 to 15, and to educate the youngest on the issue of plastic pollution, the Environment Directorate will offer children a bottle that they can customise and put in their backpack,” says Valérie Davenet, Monaco’s Director of the Environment.

“This World Environment Day’s Beat Plastic Pollution is a good opportunity for everyone to reduce their use by no longer buying or using plastic straws, a source of pollution, and focus on biodegradable materials such as paper, bamboo or corn starch,” said Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Planning.

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