EnvironmentEAEU: Eurasian Economic Commission considers single-use plastic ban

So far, a draft has been drawn up that examines the question of a gradual ban on the manufacture and import of single-use plastic products in the EAEU member countries.

The issue of banning single-use plastics was first discussed in 2020 at a meeting with representatives of EAEU countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) and companies from member countries. According to the minutes of the meeting, the State Committee for Standardization of Belarus proposed to ban the circulation of a number of types of plastic packaging in the EAEU. Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade opposed it, proposing instead the use of taxes and duties, extended producer responsibility and marketing restrictions. Kazakhstan supported the latter proposal. 

An investigation into this question will start as part of a comprehensive study in April this year and is scheduled to be completed in June 2023. In particular, it examines how waste from polymer products affects human health and the environment, which single-use products are difficult to collect and recycle, how they can be gradually reduced and what can be used as an alternative. 

Finally, the estimates obtained in the study are intended to show the usefulness of introducing a gradual ban on the importation and production of certain species. Appropriate legal regulations are to be prepared on the basis of this.