YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is banning plastic bags from 2022 to cut environmental pollution. The ban is expected to cut 12 tons of plastic bag circulation annually.

Lusine Avetisyan, the Director for Strategic Policy at the Ministry of Environment said at a news conference that they are working with plastic bag manufacturers ahead of the ban’s start.

“Before the law was adopted we worked for a very long time with the businesses. They were the first group we worked with. We gave them 2-3 years to re-organize their production and find alternative solutions. I have to say that there are complaints in many cases and it is normal,” she said.

Avetisyan cited the pollution which plastic bags cause, stressing that riverbeds across the country are full of plastic. 

Unitrade International’s founding director Avetis Varosyan presented their alternative to the plastic bags. “Our company is importing the required raw materials, which is biodegradable and is an alternative solution to both single-use and re-usable bags,” he said. Unitrade International’s bags degrade in water, and anyone can simply heat up water and place the bag in it.

In turn, the Innovative Solution for Sustainable Development of Communities organization is offering another type of re-usable bags as an alternative. The NGO’s president Mkhitar Avetisyan introduced the Loyalty Bag project. “We offer re-usable bags with unique solutions. After buying the bag, the consumer must download the relevant application. When shopping at the stores which are connected to the system the buyer can accumulate bonuses,” he said. 8 businesses have already joined the project.

The government policy is aimed at cutting the volume of overall plastic, and not cleaning or re-processing. The plastic bag ban is a part of a wider project, and soon other plastic products will also be addressed.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan