In 2018, Colombia formed the National Board for the Sustainable Management of Plastic, with government entities, private sector, academia, recyclers, NGOs and research institutions; within this context, the National Plan for the Sustainable Management of Single-Use Plastics, which included “lines of action per product” directed towards improving the environmental characteristics of plastic products, the rational use of plastics, the culture in commercial establishments. It includes cross-cutting actions in research, reverse logistics, communications and citizen culture and resource management, among others, which are already being implemented.
Colombia makes progress towards the sustainable management of single-use plastics
Plastics are currently one of the most widely used materials to manufacture and wrap many of the products that we buy and consume in our daily lives. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) recorded that in 2017 the production of plastic bags, which include branded and unbranded plastic bags and those that are vacuum packed, exceeded 60 thousand tons.
Plastic is used because it is easy and cheap to manufacture, and because it lasts a long time. Unfortunately, these same advantages have converted it into the number one contributor to pollution after the consumption of products, due to the lack of recycling systems and the lack of knowledge and culture among citizens on how to separate it. Studies show that marine litter directly affects living organisms, especially through entanglement with macroplastics and ingestion of microplastics (Neufeld, et al., 2016), and considering that many plastic products are used for just a few minutes or even a few seconds and then discarded.
The National Board for the Sustainable Management of Plastic
The Government created the above mentioned National Board for the Sustainable Management of Plastic in 2018, with the participation of the public and private sector to articulate and execute actions in all phases of the plastic life cycle for the improvement of environmental, economic and social sustainability, to achieve efficiency in the use of materials, under the principles of the circular economy.
The Board is a platform that brings together key actors from the public and private sectors, academia, recyclers, NGOs and research institutions and has enabled the formulation of the Plan for the Sustainable Management of Single-use Plastics, with actions that are aimed at the gradual replacement of some singleuse products that are considered harmless, such as mixers, cigarettes, bags and cups, and promoting a culture of using reusable products. It also establishes incentives for the reverse management of waste through measures such as the extended producer responsibility and promoting eco-designing which consists of incorporating environmental features such as the possibility of reuse, recyclability and compostability, among others, into production.
The plan presents the background on the problem and the international commitments established by the United Nations Environment Assembly, the Pacific Alliance, Colombia’s progress and commitments, to contribute to solving the problem of ocean pollution caused by the inadequate management of plastics, as the foundations to establish a vision in which Colombia manages plastics in a sustainable way by 2030. In the first instance the Plan establishes “lines of action per product” with initiatives aimed at improving the environmental characteristics of plastic products, to promote the rational use of single-use plastics, adding reusable materials to the market and changing the culture in commercial establishments and residential services.
The Plan also includes cross-cutting actions that are fundamental to facilitate management, highlighting labelling, ecodesign, communication and culture towards sustainable living, sustainable public purchases, coordinating public sanitation services, as well as restrictions for the use of plastic in protected areas. Likewise, actions are included that address basic and applied research for new substitute materials and the creation of reverse logistics mechanisms. The complementarity and harmony established for the development of the proposed actions facilitate the fulfillment of the objectives and goals.
Likewise, it promotes the implementation of the principle of extended producer responsibility – EPR for waste containers and packaging, including those made from plastic, as established in Colombian regulations, according to which producers must formulate, implement and keep updated their environmental management plans for waste containers and packaging. In addition, there is a need to broaden the extended producer responsibility to single plastic products, different from containers and packaging, the management of resources and the strengthening of the information systems.
Likewise, it develops mechanisms to promote change towards sustainable living in such a way that the consumer incorporates environmental criteria into purchases for goods and services.
Medium term goals for the replacement of single-use plastic products are established in the plan and the use of plastics by at least 50% by the year 3030.
In this way, the 9R hierarchy, of the National Circular Economy Strategy: Discard, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Restore, Remanufacture, Re-propose, Recycle and Recover will be applied to single-use plastic products.
[NB see the 2021 National Plan for the Sustainable Management of Single-Use Plastics here.]
Source: United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Compendium of case studies on solid waste management.
