The CEO of the Manufacturers Council of Papua New Guinea, Chey Scovell, says the impending 31 January deadline on the use of plastic bags is causing confusion for local business.

Manufacturers Council of Papua New Guinea’s Chey Scovell. Credit: Manufacturers Council of PNG

Following PNG’s ban on imported plastic bags on 1 November 2019, the former Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change, Geoffery Kama, announced a total ban on the use of single-use plastic bags by 31 January but, with the deadline looming, the manufacturing industry still has no clear idea how the ban will work, how it will be enforced, or even if it is going to happen.

(Update: the ban has been extended by 45 days, coming into effect on 16 March)

The main problem, according to the CEO of the Manufacturers Council of PNG, Chey Scovell, is a ‘complete lack of clarity or guidance’ from the Conservation and Environment Protection Agency (CEPA), the body overseeing the change.

‘We had an initial meeting and it was agreed that we would have monthly meetings and that we would work towards this date. But there was never, ever another meeting,’ Scovell tells Business Advantage PNG. ‘They haven’t changed the law, they have a policy without a legal basis, they have not defined the parameters; are we just talking only about shopping bags are we talking about the tearaway bags for fresh produce?’

‘I saw that a Chinese importer was given a letter saying that they can continue to import their bags for a couple of years. So does that mean everyone can apply for an exemption?’

Scovell says that CEPA has not yet been able to manage the current rules around the degradability of plastic bags that were announced 18 months ago, nor has it fully grasped the impact that these rules have on business.

‘In a place like PNG, it might take 18 months to two years for a bag to be passed to a customer,’ says Scovell. ‘If you make a bag with six or 12 months degradability, you will have all these people with their bags falling apart before you have used them.’

Ban may add more confusion

Scovell is concerned that CEPA may just let the 31 January deadline slide, instead announcing a ban but failing to deliver it properly.

‘They don’t really have a solution, they are just reacting to a political request,’ he says. ‘I get calls from manufacturers saying “What does it mean?” but because there are no meetings and no dialogue – nobody knows.’

To add to the confusion, the Manufacturers Council is already aware of some businesses that are gearing up for individual exemptions.

‘I saw that a Chinese importer was given a letter saying that they can continue to import their bags for a couple of years. So does that mean everyone can apply for an exemption?’

Scovell says that the Council acknowledges the need to do more for the environment but believes that it is a far more complex issue than just banning single-use plastic. He says PNG needs to properly manage its waste, to enforce the current regulations and to change the policy of checking bilums (reusable string bags) into the front of shops which is ‘not well thought out at all’.

‘The only industry body in PNG that has done anything for the environment in the past 40 years is the Manufacturers Council,’ he says. ‘The Clean Up Port Moresby and the Clean Up Lae campaigns were both funded by us; nobody else wanted to get on board.’