On July 7, 2024, Law 2232 of 2022, commonly known as the Single-Use Plastic Reduction Law, came into effect, and it seems impossible not to find an area in our lives in which the use of plastic is not present, from medical supplies to the packaging where our purchases are delivered.
As impossible as it may seem not to find an area where there is no presence of plastics, it is also important to evaluate the impact they have on ecosystems, oceans, and even our health. Not only the waste that can be seen with the naked eye on beaches causes danger, but even more so is the presence of microplastics; That is, small plastic particles that measure 5 millimeters and that are in the waters, causing effects on marine flora and fauna and also on human health, since these particles lodge in the human body.
In this context, Law 2232 of 2022 is conceived, as a commitment by the Government of Colombia for a more sustainable future; however, what do we mean by single-use plastics? The first thing we must be clear about is that they are those plastics that only have one useful life from their manufacture to final consumption. Taking this definition into account, we must understand, as the Law indicates, that the reduction will be gradual, that is, the following single-use plastics will be reduced in two periods:
- From July 7, 2024: Point of payment bags for loading or transporting packages and merchandise, bags for packaging newspapers, magazines, advertising and invoices, bags used in laundry, rolls of empty bags in supermarkets and stores are prohibited, mixers and straws for drinks, plastic supports for inflation pumps and holders for cotton swabs.
- From July 7, 2030: From this date, containers, packaging, containers for immediate consumption or home deliveries, plates, trays, cutlery, glasses and gloves for eating, confetti, tablecloths and streamers, adhesives, labels or any badge that is attached to fruits or vegetables, packaging or containers used for the marketing of fresh peeled fruits, vegetables and tubers.
In this way, in a period of 8 years, it is planned to achieve a 100% gradual reduction of these 21 types of plastics in the country, which gives a space of time for both companies and consumers, in adaptability. focused on reducing single-use plastics.
In the case of companies, the law provides support through training and incentives to those national manufacturers of single-use plastic products that incorporate biodegradable materials in natural environmental conditions or that reuse organic waste produced by agriculture, as well as those producers. of single-use plastics that use 100% of the plastics placed on the market of the same type or when they use 50% of the plastics placed on the market of the same type and, additionally, when they recover the remaining amount to reach at least 110% of the total single-use plastics placed by them on the market.
Within these alternatives, companies stand out that currently produce corn-based packaging bags or the manufacture of paper-based straws and edible cutlery or plates, among other alternatives that are beginning to be incorporated.
In the case of consumers, there are various options that we can implement, such as the use of cloth bags to make our purchases, we can also give priority to the use of glass packaging or metal straws.
It is important to highlight that they are excepted from this Law; those single-use plastics for medical purposes that do not have alternatives to be replaced, those that serve to protect products or substances harmful to health and the environment, foods, liquids and beverages of animal origin, as well as wet inputs that require protection for health reasons.
Failure to comply with this Law will imply sanctions ranging from one hundred (100) to fifty thousand (50,000) current legal monthly minimum wages and the temporary closure of establishments (approximately from 130 to 65 billion Colombian pesos).
The implementation of Law 2232 of 2022 will always be guided by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, additionally, to reduce the impacts on the economy and employability, this Ministry together with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and the Ministry of Labor, must create a plan for productive reconversion and labor adaptation that facilitates adaptation in companies and collaborators.
In this way, Colombia takes a great step in the environmental area, which will favor the protection of ecosystems, flora and fauna, especially marine, and also the health of future generations, a fundamental advance in the face of COP16. where the opportunity will be taken to visualize those ventures that are already applying adaptation alternatives and where the microplastic pollution crisis and the treatment of single-use plastics will be addressed.
Colombia joins the global trend in the treatment of single-use plastics, an effort by most countries in the world to reduce marine pollution caused by plastic products. Thus, consumers and companies that use or market plastic products must integrate strategies into their production processes as soon as possible to adapt to new national and international regulations. These must be designed within the framework of the transition to the circular economy, to meet the goals of the European Green Deal, Resolution 2018/2035 of September 13, 2018 on the European Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy, among others.
Some lines of thought and action that we suggest our clients integrate immediately into their processes are:
• Improve the design so that it is suitable and easy to recycle.
• Quality standards for recycled plastics will be created.
• Regulation of certifications for the use of recycled plastic will be increased.
• Standards will be issued that will establish the minimum content of recycled material that each product must have.
• It has been suggested as an incentive to reduce VAT on recycled products.
In conclusion, the regulation of single-use plastic products, as well as plastic products in general, will be increasingly limiting in the next two decades. Companies that manage to integrate circular economy strategies faster will tend to navigate these regulatory changes better.
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