Balloons dropped from planned single-use plastics ban

Government has said it is moving ahead with law changes to restrict the import of six types of single-use plastics, rather than the eight types as it previously stated.

It said it will soon restrict importation of small grocery check-out bags, straws, stir sticks and chopsticks made of plastic, as well as sky lanterns, and cups and clamshell containers made of polystyrene.

Last year, government stated that it would ban eight types of single-use plastics.

However, the Ministry of Border Control, Labour and Culture, in a statement to the Cayman Compass on Thursday, said that it had reconsidered banning plastic helium-filled balloons and their sticks.

It said it opted to remove them from the prohibited list “due to the current lack of sustainable alternatives for these items”.

Drafting begins

The ministry said, in consultation with the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, it will now begin the process of amending the Customs Tariff Act to remove the agreed prohibited single-use plastics, and would continue with draft instructions to amend the Customs and Border Control (Prohibited Goods) Order (2023 Revision) to classify the listed single-use plastics as banned.

Last year, the government announced plans to restrict a number of single-use plastic items through a Prohibition Order; however, it said in a statement Thursday that, after further consideration, it determined that “restricting the items through a legislative change to the Customs Tariff Act would be a more effective methodology”.

The Compass has requested a timeline for the completion and the implementation of the changes, and is awaiting a response.

The ministry, in its statement, said this latest action is “demonstrating progress in the ongoing effort to reduce single-use plastics across our Islands”.

Cabinet recently approved further drafting instructions to amend the Customs Tariff Act (2023 revision) to pave the way for the banning of the import of selected single-use plastics.

Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks said receiving Cabinet approval to draft those amendments “is a significant step forward in our efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainability”.

“The single-use plastic items we have identified are significant contributors to plastic pollution and environmental degradation globally, and although many of these items wash onto our shores as trash from other jurisdictions, by banning their importation we are proactively safeguarding our natural resources and prioritising the resilience of the Cayman Islands,” she added.

She said restricting single-use plastics “is just a part of reducing their environmental impact, proper waste disposal is crucial for fostering cleaner, greener communities”.

Ebanks-Wilks encouraged residents to check the Department of Environmental Health’s website for information on correct waste disposal and recycling opportunities.

Minister for Health and Wellness Sabrina Turner, in the statement, also reminded that environmental health cannot be discussed without confronting the reality of the trash that is being generated.

The space within the landfill, she said, is finite.

“The single-use plastic ban is one solution which the Government is looking at to deal with our collective waste and our success as a nation is equally – if not more – dependent on individual behaviours and practices around reducing, reusing and recycling,” she said.

She added that this will require the community to make changes “that may feel much less convenient at times”.

“But when it comes to fighting to protect the things and people that we love, inconvenience is not even a thought, much less a deterrence. Let us all continue to work together towards the same goal of protecting Cayman now and in the future,” Turner said.

Long road

A ban on single-use plastics in Cayman has been touted for many years.

Cayman is among the last jurisdictions in the region to move towards introducing restrictions on single-use plastics.

Last year, a UN Environment Programme report on the status of polystyrene foam and plastic bags in the Caribbean region said 18 out of the 40 listed nations already had a national ban in place.

In February 2020, a government-led stakeholder committee said it would be recommending legislation be implemented to ban five types of single-use plastics from January 2021.

These were single-use shopping bags, polystyrene takeaway containers, plastic straws, plastic stirrers and plastic cotton swabs.

But a month later, the project was put on hold as the COVID-19 pandemic struck the Cayman Islands.

A year-and-a-half later, then Premier Wayne Panton, in his first budget address in November 2021, said his new government was ready to move forward with the ban of single-use plastics.

But it was not until May 2022 that the government revealed a plan to re-form a steering committee to continue work on the plastics ban.

Last year, the proposal to ban eight single-use plastic products was expected to head to Cabinet, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency.

On Earth Day this year, 22 April, former premier and former Minister for Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Wayne Panton took to social media to voice his distress over the delay in moving the changes forward.

He said during his tenure, Cabinet had approved the issuance of drafting instructions for “a prohibition order to legally restrict the importation of eight types of single-use plastics into the Cayman Islands”.

He added, “Disappointingly, while this only needs approval by Cabinet and thus it is easily accomplished, it does not appear to be supported by this Government. While the private sector has been leading the way on this initiative until now, it is important that Government takes action in line with those taken by many other Caribbean countries over the past several years.”

Such action, he suggested, “reflects the recognition of the role and a responsibility it has to regulate against single-use plastics and promote sustainable alternatives”.

Panton said, sometimes “when we look around our island, it seems like the plastics are winning”.

“Even more saddening is the pollution of our beautiful ocean due to plastics. How many of us remember the heartbreaking image of the green sea turtle eating a piece of plastic wrap right here in Cayman at Spotts Public Beach almost a year ago?” he wrote.

It was after the publication of that image that the country received the first update in a year on a potential ban came after the ministry was asked to comment on it.