Russia may completely ban the production of disposable plastic goods, such as plates, cutlery, and coffee capsules, within the next two years, an official tasked with reforming the country’s municipal waste revealed on Thursday.

Speaking to TASS news agency on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Denis Butsayev explained that it would take about two years to build the facilities for the production of alternative substitute products.

Butsayev heads Russian Environmental Operator (REO), a public company established by President Vladimir Putin to form a new system for handling solid municipal waste.

REO has created a long list of goods recommended to be banned, including plastic straws and cup lids. They have also pushed for certain non-plastic items to be forbidden, such as any packaging for eggs and cotton buds.

Earlier this year, a survey by SuperJob revealed that 44% of the country is completely ready to do without plastic tableware, with another 38% declaring themselves “quite ready.”

In May, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko revealed that the government was going to keep focusing on reducing the amount of non-recyclable products in the country.

“We are preparing amendments to ban the use of non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle materials such as colored plastic, plastic tubes, cotton swabs, and disposable plastic utensils,” Abramchenko said.

The deputy PM also revealed her hope that recycling in Russia could create up to $1 trillion a year in added value by 2025 and 100,000 new jobs by 2030.

Abramchenko also promised Russian enterprises that their needs would be taken into account and that state support would be given to companies that produce the soon-to-be-banned items.

Author

Jonny Tickle is an English journalist and vlogger writing for RT and living in Moscow, an experience he describes at his YouTube channel. Follow him at podchaser.

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