Plastic bags are not biodegradable, not environmentally friendly and cannot be part of any long-term sustainable development plan, Earthlife Africa Cape Town said on Wednesday.
Spokesperson for the organisation Liz McDaid said in a statement the government’s decision to phase out the use of plastic bags would promote safe and healthy packaging.
”South Africa has committed itself to sustainable development and should be looking to increase jobs in environmentally responsible, safe and healthy packaging.
”This could be in the form of incentives for non-plastic packaging, to assist the industry with conversion or start up costs,” she said.
”From an environmental view point, plastic packaging should be banned completely.”
Earthlife Africa Cape Town would like to see harsh action taken against those ”irresponsible retailers” who were resisting this move to a more environmentally responsible society, she said.
”From a consumer viewpoint, we have developed into a throw away society, in the case of plastic bags, many people used them to carry their shopping home, after that they are thrown away,” she said. – Sapa