State agency advocates for ban on plastic bags and bottles

AKIPRESS.COM - Landfills of Kyrgyzstan will collect 33,200 tons of waste in 10 years, Director of State Agency for Environment Abdykalyk Rustamov told reporters on April 17.
It poses a threat to Issyk-Kul, Son-Kul, Sary-Chelek, and Chatyr-Kul lakes, negatively influences on biodiversity. Plastic bags will create additional problems by littering the capital's irrigation and sewerage infrastructure.
The agency has drafted the law on prohibition of import, production and sale of plastic bags in Kyrgyzstan.
The volume of plastic bags will reduce if the taxes and customs duties on their production and import will be hiked, he said.
"If passed, the bill will give time for businessmen to sell out their products and will suggest using biodecomposed bags instead," he said.
Deputy Director of the Agency Arsen Ryspekov noted that it takes 450 years for the plastic bags to decompose.
"Almost 400 unauthorized landfills were identified in Kyrgyzstan in 2018. Most of them were located on agricultural lands and we should conduct works on their legalization. 26% of wastes are plastic bags and bottles. Subsequently, we developed the draft law on prohibition of import, production and sale of plastic bags," said Ryspekov.