Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator, Matthew Samuda announced that the Government will impose a ban on the use of plastic lunch boxes, effective December 31, 2023.

This comes as the government continues it’s efforts to shift to more sustainable options.

The minister said “We made the initial change as it related to Styrofoam; there was a wave of recycled paper alternatives in the market then. Obviously, smart businessmen found another plastic solution that I would say went around the policy intent..”

Samuda made the announcement while addressing Thursday’s (May 18) non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) Adopt-A-Mangrove programme.