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Thursday 02 Jul 2015 - 14:07 Makkah mean time-15-9-1436
Plastic bags (Google image)
Maputo (IINA) – The Mozambican government has passed a decree regulating the use of plastic bags, in order to reduce the environmental problems associated with the proliferation of plastic bags, news agencies reported.
Explaining the measure to reporters on Tuesday, Mouzinho Saide, the government spokesperson and deputy health minister, said that plastic bags “have caused a multiplicity of problems, such as the clogging up of drainage channels”.
He said that plastic bags swept out to sea have damaging effects on wild life, adding that animals which accidentally ingest them can choke to death.
Some countries, such as Rwanda, have imposed a blanket ban on the use of plastic bags, Saide said. Mozambique will not go that far - at least not yet. The decree bans the use of plastic bags made of recycled materials for containing foodstuffs. This is the type of thin, black plastic bag found almost universally in the shops of the Mozambican capital Maputo, he explained.
The government decree says this type of plastic is a threat to public health, and so must not be used to hold food. As an alternative, the government will promote the use of bags and baskets made of paper, cardboard and other biodegradable materials.
The new decree will take effect 180 days after it has been published in the official gazette, the “Boletim da Republica”.
AB/IINA
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