100mln plastic bags discarded into Jordan’s environment every year

100mln plastic bags discarded into Jordan’s environment every year

AMMAN — Each Jordanian citizen on average consumes around 500 plastic bags per year, with approximately 100 million plastic bags discarded into the Jordanian environment yearly.

This increases the total annual plastic waste volume by 17 per cent, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Environment Mohammad Khashashneh said in recent press remarks.

The minister explained that Jordan suffers from excessive use of plastic and that plastic bags constitute an additional burden on the environment, referring to a study that revealed that the spread of these bags resulted in the death of 2,200 head of livestock.

Khashashneh also warned that burning plastic in haphazard ways causes health damage to individuals.

Regarding measures to reduce plastic pollution in Jordan, Khashashneh stated that the ministry has distributed 50,000 reusable bags to encourage a substitution culture, reducing plastic’s spread in the environment.

The ministry also distributed seven machines which consumers can use to exchange plastic containers for a material return that can be used for shopping.

Furthermore, the ministry will continue to work on international programmes aimed at enhancing the circular and green economy.

Representative of the plastic sector in the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Alaa Abu Khazneh, said that “plastic is an easy material to monitor and collect from the environment”.

He