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SARAJEVO, July 16 (FENA) - Plastic waste is one of the biggest threats to human health and nature. It is estimated that households, production/service activities and public utilities in BiH produced about 150,000 tons of plastic waste during 2018, the UNDP in BiH announced today.
Less than two percent of this waste is recycled while 98 percent ends up in controlled, uncontrolled and illegal landfills in BiH, because the system of primary and secondary selection of packaging waste is not established in most municipalities/cities, and capacities for recycling various packaging materials are lacking.
Addressing plastic waste involves the participation of governments, the public and private sectors, academia and society as a whole.
The Single-use Plastics Directive of the EU, which entered into force in early July, requires EU Member States to adopt a series of measures to reduce the use of single-use plastics and environmental pollution, extend the producer responsibility scheme, ban the use of certain products in the EU and allow circular economic model in the EU by 2030 to make all plastics in circulation recyclable or reusable.
Among other things, the Directive introduces an obligation to collect separately for recycling as much as 90 percent of beverage bottles up to three liters by 2029, while the current targets for the usage and recycling of packaging waste in Bosnia and Herzegovina are between 16 and 20 percent.
In order to understand the implications of the Single-use Plastics Directive for the economy and the environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNDP conducted research and produced a Report on the Transposition of the Single-use Plastics Directive, and its Impact on the Economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of its efforts to encourage anticipatory analysis and policy changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to modern, sustainable economic models.
"The Report is extremely important as it provides the authorities and the economy in BiH with insight into information, practices and trends that are of key importance for planning and undertaking activities for the reduction and management of plastic waste. We believe that the Report's recommendations will be useful to decision-makers for an accelerated approach to BiH regulation and policy according to EU legislation. If there is no timely reaction in terms of limiting the placement on the BiH market of disposable plastic products, there is a danger that the problem of packaging waste and its all-round presence in the environment will become even more pronounced because the domestic market will be flooded with products that are banned or restricted in the EU," said the UNDP Resident Representative in BiH Steliana Nedera.
While plastics are a convenient material, littered plastics cause environmental damage and negatively impact economic activities such as tourism, fisheries and shipping. Under the European Green Deal, the EU is creating a circular economy, where plastics are used in a more sustainable way, re-used and recycled, and not creating waste or pollution.
Directive (EU) 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment is an essential element of the Circular Economy Action Plan, and was transposed into national law and applied as of 3 July 2021.
This report is part of UNDP’s efforts to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and creating a low-carbon, circular economy. It offers an overview of the transposition status of the Directive in several EU member states and countries from the region of South-East Europe, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Report also treats the impact of the Directive’s implementation on the domestic economy and showcases the private sector’s readiness to adapt to new legislative and market circumstances through several case studies.
(FENA) S. R.
