The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) announced plans to ban the use of plastic bags starting next year. The ruling also applies to plastic containers that come in direct contact with food products (think take-away and deli counter sales).

 

The action seeks to safeguard public health and address excessive use of disposable plastic products.

 

Bakeries and produce stands must switch to paper or reusable fabric bags; restaurants that dish out plastic plates will be required to use greener alternatives; and roadside coffee shops must stick to paper cups. No word on what constitutes “greener” substitutes, nor how the ban will be enforced.

 

The JFDA sent draft regulations for review and comment to the chambers of industry and commerce, and the Bakery Owners Association. Apparently all have expressed willingness to cooperate.

 

The ban is a positive first step, but one that needs to be partnered with a robust anti-littering campaign and program of municipal recycling; neither currently exists in the litter-strewn kingdom.

 

Many of Jordan’s neighbors have already commenced bans on the free issue of plastics.

 

Qatar was the first country in the region to prohibit the use of plastics to serve hot food, and they also introduced a charging scheme for disposable plastic bags.

 

Kuwait aims to be a zero-plastic nation by the year 2020, developing new types of bags for bakery products, groceries, plastic dry cleaning bags and plastic sheeting used in construction and agriculture.

 

Effective last January, the UAE banned non-oxo-biodegradable shopping bags as a first step, to be followed by 15 additional items and gradually extending to all other disposable items.

 

In Jordan, more than three billion plastic bags are used annually, which translates into every person using 584 bags a year – almost 2 bags per day! According to official estimates, more than 30 million bags a year are littered across the country.