Summary by Martin Mowforth from report by El Economista

2 October 2019

Key words: recycling; incentives; plastics; Bay of Panamá.

On 2 October, El Economista reported that the government of Panamá was looking for ways of incentivising recycling. Speaking at an international symposium on sustainability organised by the Industrial Union of Panamá, the Environment Minister Milciades Concepción said that recycling by industry is practically nil: “Here we can’t set up recycling plants because there are no incentives,” he declared.

According to official figures the Bay of Panamá receives 175,000 tonnes of waste each year, much of which is composed of plastics. The Director of Urban and Household Hygiene Pedro Castillo said that “on recycling we are years behind.”

Cerro Patacón is the main landfill dump for the city of Panamá and the 150 informal recyclers who work there find the collection of plastic material to be less attractive than the collection of other materials because of the low demand for plastics.

The United Nations Environment Programme calculates that in Latin America only 10 per cent of all waste material generated is recycled, and that this rate is lower in areas of poverty. UNEP also estimates that each year 8 million tonnes of plastic reach the sea, and that if this continues, by 2050 there will be more plastics in the oceans than fish.

The following article illustrates the cynical greenwash deployed by governments in their relationship with environmental protection. In this case, the government of Guatemala is shown to be the cheating ‘greenwasher’. (Both articles were originally sourced from the Spanish News Agency EFE and appeared in El Economista. We are grateful to Lucy Goodman for her translation and summary on behalf of The Violence of Development website.)

El Economista, 20/09/19

Key words: single-use plastics; Guatemala; repeal on change of government.

In September the Government of Guatemala announced the prohibition of the use and distribution of single-use plastic bags and other plastic items in order to contribute to the protection of the environment and gave a two-year deadline for adapting to this measure.

The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources published the government agreement in the official daily newspaper (Diario de Centro America), announcing the restriction that also applies to plastic straws, plates, cups, containers and plastic or polystyrene food packaging.

This movement does not restrict or limit any municipal initiatives with the same purpose, as within several constituencies in the country, similar measures have already been in place for a while. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will be verifying, inspecting and monitoring compliance with this legislation itself, and wall train legal persons to apply the corresponding sanctions for non-compliance.

The only exempt plastic items will be those “for medical or therapeutic purposes”, as well as imported items that are “factory sealed with plastic material or expanded polystyrene”.

Showing a photo of a turtle tangled in plastic, the then-president Jimmy Morales celebrated on social media this decision in which “Guatemala says no to plastic” and affirmed that this changes the country for future generations to come. “It’s time to change our form of consumption, for our nation and the future of our children” he proclaimed.

Subsequently, in a press conference, the president reiterated his pleasure with this decision, that there are other products available for use, and that there are two years to accomplish the transition and find the right substitutes.

Questioned about the loss of jobs in the plastics sector, Morales advocated seeing the benefits and asked for it not to get “dramatic” and “to find a solution to the issues”.

The Plastics Commission of the Guatemalan Exporters Association, formed of 60 manufacturers and export companies states on the website that the sector creates some 10,000 jobs directly and 60,000 indirectly, and the plastics industry is the “industry of export, indirectly the most important in the country”. The principle export destinations of these products are Central America, the Caribbean, the United States and Mexico.

[Editorial comment: it is rumoured that President Morales knew that the measure would be repealed by any right-wing successor to the presidency. Enter stage right: President Elect Giammattei.]

President-elect of Guatemala to repeal the agreement to ban plastic.

Guatemala’s new President Alejandro Giammattei announced on Wednesday that he would repeal the agreement that prohibits the use and distribution of single-use plastic bags, among other products.

“Plastic usage is not prohibited; there are other more important things to do. We must focus on culture, education, environmental awareness” declared Giammattei to the press after he left a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce.

Giammattei had warned that he would look into this agreement because in his view there is a “much deeper” problem.

[Editorial comment: indeed there is; it is the deep corruption within Guatemalan state politics and the Chamber of Commerce.]

Various commercial sectors have spoken out against plastics prohibition because they consider the real problem of contamination is in the management and control of solid waste, while the Plastics Commission of the Guatemalan Exporters Association states that 10,000 direct and 60,000 indirect jobs are at risk.

Por EFE  –  El Economista

23 de Febrero de 2022

Palabras claves: Centroamérica; plásticos; contaminación por plásticos

Los países de Centroamérica han sido “de los primeros” en tomar decisiones para combatir la contaminación por plásticos, aseguró el ambientalista de MarViva, una organización creada en el 2002 y con sedes operativas en Panamá, Costa Rica y Colombia.

Centroamérica ha sido de las primeras regiones en adoptar decisiones para combatir la contaminación por plásticos pero, al igual que al resto del mundo, le hace falta más leyes y coordinación para enfrentar este problema global, afirmó a Efe un experto de la Fundación MarViva.

El coordinador regional de contaminación marina de MarViva, Alberto Quesada, indicó que Centroamérica tiene la “particularidad” de ser de las pocas regiones del mundo cuya mayoría de países tiene dos costas (Atlántico y Pacífico), lo que redunda en que “el impacto” de la contaminación por plásticos “llega de ambos lados”.

“Nuestra huella de plástico, aunque es considerable, no se compara” con la del mundo desarrollado, “pero nuestra afectación por mares contaminados por plásticos sí es tremenda. Hoy en cualquier estudio en Centroamérica de costas, de desechos en las playas, de productos pesqueros, vamos a encontrar contaminación por plásticos”, aseguró.

Un reciente informe del Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza (WWF, por sus siglas en inglés) alertó que la contaminación por plásticos ha llegado “a todos los rincones de los océanos”, y que el 88 % de las especies marinas están afectadas por esta, incluidas las consumidas por el ser humano.

Las acciones

Los países de Centroamérica han sido “de los primeros” en tomar decisiones para combatir la contaminación por plásticos, aseguró el ambientalista de MarViva, una organización creada en el 2002 y con sedes operativas en Panamá, Costa Rica y Colombia.

Puso como ejemplo a Panamá, que cuenta con “un par de leyes bastante modernas, en especial la más recientemente aprobada que obliga a la sustitución gradual de plásticos de un solo uso por alternativas más sostenibles”.

En el caso de Costa Rica, dijo Quesada, también se han aprobado algunas leyes, mientras que los otros países centroamericanos cuentan con al menos políticas y ordenanzas municipales que han permitido atender el problema.

“Lo hemos hecho bien, pero en términos generales necesitamos más normativas y más coordinación. Doy fe de que los países de la región están avanzando en ambas cosas”, dijo Quesada.

Así, Centroamérica está bien encaminada en materia de coordinación con el Plan de Acción sobre Basura Marina para el Pacífico Nordeste, que incluye también a México y Colombia.

“Es un plan a 5 años que cuenta con acciones para ir combatiendo la basura marina, donde el tema del desecho plástico es uno de los prioritarios,” afirmó el experto de MarViva, organización que ha contribuido en la coordinación de esta iniciativa.

En materia de leyes, Centroamérica necesita de “normativas de mejor calidad” y con un “enfoque integral, de ciclo de vida,” porque el “problema de la contaminación por plástico no comienza cuando tenemos el residuo en las manos sino desde que producimos, distribuimos, desde que consumimos.”

“Eso nos lleva a una discusión mucho más grande, y que está muy vigente, como la urgencia de un nuevo tratado internacional sobre contaminación por plásticos,” afirmó.

El manejo de los desechos plásticos será uno de los grandes temas en la reunión de la quinta sesión de la Asamblea Medioambiental de la ONU (UNEA 5) que comenzará el próximo 28 de febrero en Nairobi.

La expectativa de la Fundación MarViva es que en la UNEA 5 los países “emitan una resolución amparada en la propuesta impulsada por Perú y Ruanda, que llaman a la formación de un Comité Intergubernamental de Negociación que va a tener como mandato negociar durante dos años un tratado internacional nuevo sobre contaminación por plásticos (…) si va a ser vinculante o voluntario, eso está en discusión”, dijo Quesada.

Fundación MarViva: https://www.amigosofcostarica.org/affiliates/fundacion-marviva

Sourced from El Economista

23 February 2022

Translated by Pamela Machado for The Violence of Development website. Pamela Machado is a Brazilian journalist working in Brazil, Portugal and the UK.

Keywords: Central America; plastics; plastic contamination

Central American countries have been among “the first ones” to make decisions to fight plastic pollution, said an environmentalist from MarViva, an organisation created in 2002 operating in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia.

Central America has been among the first regions to adopt measures to combat plastic contamination but, much like the rest of the world, more legislation and coordination is needed to face this global problem, an expert from Fundación MarViva told Efe, the Spanish international news agency.

MarViva’s regional coordinator for sea pollution, Alberto Quesada, said Central America has the “particularity” of being one of the few regions in the world where most countries have two coasts (Atlantic and Pacific), which means that “the impact” of plastic pollution “hits both sides”.

“Our plastic footprint, even though it is considerable, does not compare” to the one from the developed world, “but the contamination impact on our coasts is tremendous. In any current study about Central American coasts, about waste on the beach, about fisheries, we will find plastic pollution,” he said.

A recent report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned that plastic pollution has reached “all corners of the oceans”, and that 88% of marine species have been affected by it, including those consumed by humans.

The actions

Central American countries have been among “the first ones” to make decisions to fight plastic pollution, said the environmentalist from MarViva, an organisation created in 2002 operating in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia.

He gives the example of Panama, which has “a couple of very modern laws, especially the most recently approved which mandates the gradual replacement of single-use plastic for more sustainable alternatives”.

In the case of Costa Rica, Quesada said, some laws have also been approved, while other Central American countries have fewer policies and municipal ordinances that allow the problem to be addressed.

“We have been doing well, but in general, we need more regulation and more coordination. I can attest that there have been advancements in both ways in the region,” said Quesada.

Thus, Central America is in line with the action plan on sea waste for the Northeast Pacific, which also includes Mexico and Colombia.

“This is a 5-year plan that counts with actions to combat sea waste, and where the theme of plastic waste is one of the priorities,” said the MarViva expert, organisation that contributed to coordinating the initiative.

In terms of laws, Central America needs “better quality regulation” and “an integral, life-cycle approach”, because the “problem of plastic pollution does not start when we have the residues in our hands but instead it is embedded within what we produce, distribute, and consume.”

“This brings us to a much larger discussion, and one that is much more current, that is the urgency of a new international treaty on plastic pollution,” he said.

The handling of plastic waste will be one of the main themes in the general meeting of the fifth session of the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA 5) which will start on 28 February in Nairobi.

MarViva’s expectation is that in the UNEA 5, countries “issue a resolution supported by the proposal promoted by Peru and Rwanda, which calls for the formation of an Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee that will have a mandate to negotiate during two years a new international treaty on pollution by plastics (…) whether it is going to be a voluntary or a binding agreement, and this is under discussion,” says Quesada.

MarViva Foundation: https://www.amigosofcostarica.org/affiliates/fundacion-marviva