Jamaicans urged to join the fight against plastic pollution
Representatives from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC) are urging all Jamaicans to take collective action and to join in the fight against plastic pollution. Speaking at the recent launch of MEGJC’s internal ‘EcoChampions Recycling’ initiative, at its offices on Half-Way Tree Road, Senator Matthew Samuda, Minister without portfolio in the MEGJC, highlighted the global nature of the plastic pollution challenge. “If we look at the myriad of challenges that all developing countries face, Jamaica is not immune to the challenges that exist globally. The issue of pollution, specifically plastic pollution, is certainly one of the challenges to our sustainability,” he said. “It is for this reason that the Ministry has been working on several initiatives to reduce pollution by removing particular items from our waste stream and to work with our colleagues at the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, through their agency, the National Solid Waste Management Authority, to ensure that we actually collect the waste we generate”, he added.
Samuda pointed out that significant changes in consumer behaviour over the past two decades have contributed to the significant rise in plastic consumption, “the nature of how we consume as human beings has changed”. The Senator reminded persons that “when we implemented the first phase of the plastic ban, targeting Styrofoam, or expanded polystyrene foam, as it is properly named, that expanded polystyrene foam was not commonly found in the Jamaican market before 1999…. As such, the volume of plastic consumption per person was vastly different 20 years ago and it was a problem, then, that was identified for action and intervention”. The Minister noted that, “What you’re seeing today is the beginning of a pilot project to separate waste in the Ministry that is charged with Jamaica’s sustainable development”. He emphasized the importance of public education in this fight and called for an increased effort in raising public awareness about the importance of responsible waste management.
Mrs Arlene Williams, permanent secretary in the MEGJC, urged all employees as well as the members of the public to support efforts to reduce plastic pollution. “Government, the private sector, civil society, academia and individuals all have a role to play in identifying and implementing sustainable solutions to tackle this multifaceted problem, and so, today, I call on all employees and Jamaicans to lend their support in frontally addressing this issue of plastic pollution,” she said.
The launch of the EcoChampions initiative is just one facet of a broader suite of measures that the Jamaican Government is implementing to address pollution. The government is also focusing on removing harmful items, such as microplastics in personal-care products and plastic lunch boxes, from the waste stream.
