Environment Protection (Banning of Plastic Banners) Regulations, 2008

Brief

The Environment Protection (Banning of Plastic Banners) Regulations, 2008 – Government Notice No. 113 of 2008, were promulgated on 09 July 2008 and entered into operation on the same date.

The aim of these regulations is to promote a green and clean campaigning, especially during electoral periods and to mitigating the associated adverse health and environmental impacts. 

Plastic banners and buntings “oriflammes” have been widely used as a medium to announce political, cultural, religious, commercial and social events for a temporary period.  These materials were displayed in streets, roundabouts, handrails, fences and other public places and were very often not removed after the occurrence of the events. 

It is known to all that plastic materials weather over time and can often be seen flapping from structures which ultimately result to an “eyesore”.  Being of a non-biodegradable nature due to their chemical stability, plastic banners and oriflammes remain intact for a long period in the environment.  They are easily windblown and are often caught in trees and in bushes and pose a serious threat to the environment and the traffic.  These eyesores also, adversely impact on our tourism industry.

Plastic banners and oriflammes once discarded as wastes often find their ways in drains and cause clogging of waterways, and contribute to the severity of floods during heavy rainfall. The recent flood of 26 March 2008 has clearly demonstrated the adverse impacts of indiscriminate disposal of wastes particularly that of plastic. Plastic wastes tend to accumulate water and therefore become an ideal breeding ground for the proliferation of mosquitoes and vector borne diseases such as Chikungunya and Malaria.  Plastic wastes also affect the aquatic ecosystem as it has been reported in other parts of the world that marine animals such as sea turtles and dolphins mistake floated plastic materials as jellyfish and ingest them leading to their suffocation and death.

Apart from adverse environmental impacts, the removal and disposal of plastic banner wastes has been proved to be very costly to local authorities in terms of overtime paid to effectively complete this task.  Infact for the last general election, over and above the normal running cost, the overtime cost paid to employees by all local authorities to effectively complete this task amounted to about Rs 2 million with an estimated amount of 40 tons of wastes collected.       

The above regulations make provision to ban the use of banners, buntings, flags, barricade tape which are made of plastic or similar materials.  The regulations, however, provides for an exemption in the case of barricade tape used to preserve evidence and control access to site in case of crime scene and accidents and during demolition, excavation or construction works for the safety and security of the public.

Enforcement of the above regulations are being carried out mainly by the Mauritius Police Force including the Police de l’Environnement, Officers of the Department of Environment and the local authorities who are now empowered to enforce environmental laws within their respective administrative areas under the Environment Protection (Amendment) Act, 2008. 

Any person contravening these regulations shall commit an offence, and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 250,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.

Click here to view the full text of the Environment Protection (Banning of Plastic Banners) Regulations 2008.