Kuwait has joined India in banking single-use plastic onboard ships
Enforcement of India’s requirement for ships to keep single-use plastic items locked in a store whilst in Indian territorial waters has been delayed until further notice, however, an identical prohibition will now be enforced in Kuwait, according to the P&I Club, Gard.
On November 28, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Communications announced its policy to prohibit the use of certain single-use plastic items onboard Kuwaiti and foreign ships while in port in Kuwait or in Kuwaiti waters. The items banned have been divided into two categories; items which are banned with immediate effect, and items which will be prohibited as of 1 January 1 2020.
Items prohibited with immediate effect: cutlery, plates and cups; bottles up to 10 litres for water and other drinks garbage and shopping bags; dispensing containers for cleaning fluids that are less than 10 litres in volume.
Items prohibited from January 1 include: bags, trays, containers, food packaging film; milk bottles, freezer bags, shampoo bottles, ice cream containers; bottles for water and other drinks, dispensing containers for cleaning fluids, biscuit trays; hot drink cups, insulated food packaging, protective packaging for fragile items; and microwave dishes, ice cream tubs, potato ship bags, bottle caps.
The new rule prohibits the carriage of any of the above items onboard Kuwaiti flagged ships. Foreign flagged ships are only prohibited from using any such item while operating in Kuwaiti waters and must keep all their single-use plastic items locked in a store during their stay in Kuwaiti ports and during their passage through the territorial waters of Kuwait.
“Even if the marine industry is not a major source of single-use plastic waste, it must still align its efforts with those of other industries to ensure its relative share of waste from marine-based activities and ports does not grow,” Gard stated in a note to clients.
