Greenpeace Urges NZ to Be The First Country to Ban Plastic Bottles

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Greenpeace announced that New Zealand could become the first country in the world to ban plastic drink bottles.

The non-governmental environment organization has launched a new campaign titled ‘Ban the Bottle’, which urges the government to ban unnecessary single-use plastic bottles in the country and to incentivize reusable and refillable alternatives. The beverage companies could switch to using glass bottles or cans, which have less environment footprints. As per rough estimates, the country consumes nearly 5 million packaged drinks bottles, of which only 35 to 45% are responsibly recycled.

ALSO READ: New Zealand Plastic Recycling Scheme Surpasses New Milestone

The discarded plastic bottles end up clogging the country’s landfills or get shipped to other countries where they are treated using primitive techniques. The bottles that end up at coastal areas break into tiny pieces which are ingested by marine animals. Greenpeace called upon the New Zealand government for visionary action by banning single-use plastic bottles. It must be noted that the country had banned use of single-use plastic bags last year. The same legislation could be used to ban plastic bottles, Greenpeace said.

The organization stated that most of the plastic drinks bottles made in the country are from virgin plastic materials and not from recycled plastic.

The proper planning and implementation of the proposed ban could boost regional employment, it added.