YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The plastic bag ban failed to give the desired results, businesses and government officials concurred.

Several major retailing shops told ARMENPRESS that they haven’t recorded any drastic decrease in the demand for plastic bags, despite charging the customers for them. However, some customers began using alternatives such as paper or cloth bags. There are even some who use plastic bags several times. However, all supermarket chains surveyed said that the number of customers preferring the alternative to plastic bags is small.

The ban on plastic bags (up to 50 microns) entered force January 1 in Armenia, a move initiated by the government to reduce harming the environment. The ban does not cover the plastic food packing bags used for weighing.

Eco Waste environmental organization Director Hripsime Mkrtchyan said it is too early for studies. She noted that the plastic food packing bags used for weighing are still in circulation and are used in very large quantities. Mkrtchyan says the picture is worse in the provinces, where businesses haven’t abandoned the plastic bags claiming they were unaware.

“I can confidently say that the right steps weren’t taken before adopting the law. No work was done with respective structures, they say they’ve notified, but this isn’t enough. At this moment I can say that the process is somewhat taking shape but this doesn’t mean that plastic waste will be reduced. Not at all, it will grow, because people are simply again buying the thicker plastic bags which are allowed,” Mkrtchyan said.

The Ministry of Environment, however, says that there is a drop of industrial volumes, in additional to some small producers of plastic bags that have shut down operations.

“But, of course, I agree that we didn’t get the result which we were expecting. There is a little lack of supervision here, but I have to note that we regularly work with the supervising bodies. If we ramp up the supervision I think the meaning of the law will be justified,” the Ministry of Environment Head of the Department of Strategic Policy Lusine Avetisyan said.

Asked to explain the reason of banning plastic bags thinner than 50 microns but allowing the use of 50 microns or more for which customers must pay in supermarkets, Avetisyan said the thick plastic bags are easier to be collected in waste disposal sites and then submitted for reprocessing.

Avetisyan said they will conduct inspections and surveys after the first quarter of 2022.

Gayane Gaboyan