Plastic straw ban without viable alternative won't solve problem: Minister

Climate Change, Environment and Energy Minister Ali Shareef has defended the government’s decision to delay restrictions on plastic drinking straws, saying a ban without providing a suitable alternative would not address the underlying problem.

The Maldives prohibited the import of single-use plastic drinking straws from 2021, while their production and sale were subsequently banned from December 2022. The government recently revised those deadlines, allowing the import, production and sale of plastic straws until 2031.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Shareef said the government had received complaints about paper straws, which became widely used as an alternative to plastic straws.

He said the main concern was that plastic straws had been banned without first establishing a suitable alternative.

Shareef said the objective of such policies should be to find an effective solution rather than simply prohibit a product.

“A lot of people have asked me why we made this decision and whether this is a step backwards,” Shareef said. “My argument is that it would be a step backwards if we simply banned the product without providing an alternative.”

Shareef also raised concerns about the quality and food safety of paper straws, saying there were questions over some of the paper and other materials used in their production. He did not provide further details about the substances or potential health effects.

He said restaurants and cafés were currently using paper straws of varying quality and that the ministry had received a number of complaints about them.

“There are actually a lot of complaints about this as well. You put the straw in, and you cannot even pierce the cover on the cup,” he said.

Shareef said there was also no system in place to assess the quality of paper straws imported into the Maldives.

He said requiring businesses to import only higher-quality paper straws could also have an impact on consumers by increasing costs.

Shareef said he did not support a permanent return to plastic straws. Instead, he said the government should use the additional time to identify a suitable alternative before imposing the restrictions.

The revised policy postpones the prohibition on importing single-use plastic drinking straws until 1 June 2031, while restrictions on their production and sale will take effect on 19 December 2031.

The government has also revised restrictions on plastic water bottles. The import and production of water in plastic bottles between 500 millilitres and one litre will be prohibited from 1 December 2029, while their sale will be prohibited from 1 June 2030.

The revised rules also reduce the size threshold for restrictions on pre-packaged beverages other than water from 500 millilitres to 250 millilitres. The import, production and sale of such beverages in plastic bottles smaller than 250 millilitres are now prohibited.