The Bahamas has stepped up its efforts to reduce single-use plastics in the country with the release of the Environmental Protection Bill – now available on the government’s website as it seeks public consultation and feedback.

The new Bill provides for a complete ban of single-use plastics and styrofoam by 2020, eliminating items such as plastic straws, styrofoam food containers and single-use plastic shopping bags.

The Bahamas joins several other Caribbean countries as the movement towards reducing plastic and styrofoam advances regionally. Jamaica, Dominica, St Lucia and Turks and Caicos and other Caribbean states have all introduced legislation to reduce their plastic pollution.

“The future of the Caribbean is to be free of single-use plastics and plastic pollution. A Caribbean that is sustainable, resilient and growing economically must take care of the people and the industries upon which it depends. One of the ways we can effectively do this is to reduce our dependency on single-use plastics.,” said Vincent Sweeney, head of the UN Environment’s Caribbean sub-regional office.