MOSCOW (MRC) -- On February 1, the norms of the law on limiting the circulation of plastic bags, which involve the sale of large bags at established minimum prices, come into force in Ukraine, Finance.ua reports.
Now, in stores, catering establishments and services, packages for packaging or transportation will be sold at prices starting from 2 hryvnia. We are talking about large plastic bags in the form of a sleeve with a bottom and an open mouth with walls more than 50 micrometers thick.
The minimum prices, according to the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of December 20, will be:
UAH2 - for a package without handles and side folds;
UAH2.5 - a package without handles, but with side folds or with handles without side folds;
UAH3 - a package with handles and side folds.
At the same time, shops can sell packages more expensive, but not cheaper, than the government has set.
The next phase of the law will take effect in the spring of 2022. “From March 10, the distribution of ultra-thin (with walls less than 15 micrometers thick), thin (with walls from 15 to 50 micrometers) and oxo-degradable plastic bags in stores and catering establishments will be prohibited,” wrote Kyiv City Council deputy Konstantin Yalovy.
The indicated packages and “t-shirts” are now sold in Ukraine mainly for 10 kopecks. a piece. Their free distribution is prohibited from December 10, 2021.
As MRC reported, according to the UN, about 80 countries have already banned disposable bags. In October last year, the European Parliament, as part of the fight against pollution of the oceans, voted to ban single-use plastic products - disposable tableware, drinking straws, thin plastic bags and others. In July this year, the Republic of Belarus also began to consider the issue of banning free plastic bags in stores and limiting the use of disposable plastic tableware in catering establishments.
According to a MRC's DataScope report, last month's PE imports to Ukraine were 30,500 tonnes versus 26,400 tonnes in November, local companies raised their purchasing of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). Thus, overall PE imports reached 177,300 tonnes in 2021, compared to 165,900 tonnes a year earlier. Only HDPE imports decreased, whereas imports of other PE grades increased. The structure of PE imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.
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