Russia can't give up household plastic from 2021 like EU, but is ready to impose disposal fee on it - presidential special envoy Ivanov

  • 2019-03-29
  • Interfax/TBT Staff

MOSCOW - The Kremlin welcomes the European Union's decision to ban the production and sale of disposable plastic products starting from 2021, but said it is unlikely that Russia can do it as fast.

"Is it generally possible in our country? It is possible. Can it be done at this rate? Impossible. We will not be ready to fully give up this plastic, china, utensils, etc., by 2021," Sergei Ivanov, presidential special envoy on environmental activities, ecology and transport, told Interfax on Thursday.

At the same time, he said plastic in Russia "has already been included in the future 'blacklist' of goods that will be subject to a disposal fee from 2021." "the deadline is 2021. Manufacturers will pay for the disposal of these goods in advance," the presidential special envoy said, adding that it is a global practice.

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a law banning the production and sale of some disposable plastic products, including china and utensils, from 2021.

The Kremlin official said the decision to stop using these plastic products was largely necessitated by problems with their disposal.

"The situation with that is indeed bad. A lot of plastic is thrown away, and it is one of the most serious environmental damages. I was amazed by photos of the Pacific Ocean taken from space, which show whole archipelagos of islands made of plastic, which stretch for dozens of kilometers. It's really scary," he said.

On the other hand, Ivanov said the solution of plastic disposal problems fully depends on people. "If people gather plastic china after a picnic and take it to a collection point, it's one thing, but if they dump it on the site, it's different. And here everything depends on people. Not on some high matters and technologies," he said.