The “Environment Protection (Control of Single Use Plastic Products) Regulations 2020” that will ban ten plastic products in the island as from January 15, 2021 has been issued on Wednesday 22 July, 2020.
The plastic products that will be banned are as follows: plastic cutlery (forks, spoons, knives, chop sticks), disposable plates, straws, drink stirrers (stirrer), containers with hinged lids, lids of plastic containers and single-use plastic, disposable (take-away) containers.
Three months after, i.e on April 15, 2021, straws attached to the drink cartons, disposable trays and containers with hinged lids used only for drinking, packaging of raw (fresh) and refrigerated products such as fruit, meat, seafood and chicken will also be banned in Mauritius. No individual will have the right to own, use, sell, distribute, import and manufacture the above-mentioned plastic products. Offenders will be liable to a fine as follows: fine not exceeding Rs 2,000 for possession and use of plastic products, fine not exceeding Rs 20,000 for sale and distribution, fine not exceeding Rs 50,000 for import and fine not exceeding Rs 100,000 for manufacturing.