A plan proposed to phase out single-use plastics in the Maldives by the year 2023, has been approved.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih approved the plan proposed by the Ministry of Environment, on Thursday.
The plan was endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers, before the president's approval.
The government’s vision to phase out single-use plastics from the Maldives by the year 2023, was initially announced during Solih’s maiden trip to New York to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held last year.
It was introduced at the session as a government pledge, reiterated in the incumbent government’s 2019-2023 Strategic Action Plan (SAP).
The plan envisages Maldives' waters to be cleared of plastic pollution by the year 2023.
Minimizing the use of single-use plastics was also one of Solih’s first 100-day-pledges. Since the Solih administration came into power, several government institutions alongside restaurants and cafés have stopped using plastic.
Single-use or disposable plastics are intended for one-time purposes, whether or not they are recyclable, labelled as bioplastics, biodegradable or compostable.
