Environment (Single Use Plastic Ban) Regulations 2023

711 BY AUTHORITY NO. 102 Friday 1st September 2023 The following is published as a Supplement to this Gazette: [Legal Notice No. 54] LEGAL NOTICE Honiara, Solomon Islands Printed under the authority of the Solomon Islands Government Printed by Provincial Press 607 SUPPLEMENT to the Solomon Islands Gazette Friday 1st September, 2023 S.I. No. 42 [Legal Notice No. 54] ENVIRONMENT (SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAN) REGULATIONS 2023 Table of provisions 1 Citation ............................................................................................................ 607 2 Commencement ............................................................................................... 607 3 Definitions ....................................................................................................... 607 4 Importation, manufacturing and distribution, supply and sell of single use plastic products ............................................................................... 608 5 Enforcement .................................................................................................... 608 ENVIRONMENT ACT 1998 (No. 8 of 1998) ENVIRONMENT (SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAN) REGULATIONS 2023 I, Hon. Stanley Festus Sofu, Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, under section 55 of the Environment Act 1998, make the following Regulations: 1 Citation These Regulations may be cited as the Environment (Single Use Plastic Ban) Regulations 2023. 2 Commencement (1) Regulation 4(1) commences on 1 September 2023. (2) The remaining provisions to commence 6 months on and from 1 September 2023. 3 Definitions In these Regulations: “person” includes any public body, company or association, and any body of persons corporate or unincorporated; “plastic shopping bag” is any of the following; (a) designed for the use in trade and commerce; and (b) plastic carrier bags whether light weight or heavy weight; and (c) made in whole or in part, of polyethylene, composed primarily of 608 thermoplastic synthetic polymeric material; and (d) which is provided at the point of sale and incidental to the purchase of other goods; and (e) used for delivery of goods; and (f) whether biodegradable or non-biodegradable; “plastic cutlery” includes single use takeaway cups, spoons, forks and knives designed for single-use, however excluding those used for smoothies or bubble tea; “Polyethylene Terephthalate (“PET”) water bottle” means, (a) drinking water contained in PET bottle less than 1.5 Litre in volume; and (b) designed for use in trade and commerce; and (c) made in whole or in part, of plastic, and made of plastic resin; and (d) designed for one time use; and (e) which is provided by retail outlet to a customer at the point of sale; “single-use plastic products” means the following: (a) plastic shopping bags; (b) plastic straws; (c) plastic cup, plastic plate and plastic cutlery; (d) polystyrofoam takeaway containers, plates, cups; (e) polyethylene terephthalate water bottle that contain less than 1.5 litres; 4 Importation, manufacturing and distribution, supply and sell of single use plastic products (1) No person shall import single-use plastic products. (2) No person shall manufacture or distribute to any person single-use plastic products. (3) No person shall sell or supply to retail outlets single-use plastic products. (4) A person contravening (1), (2), or (3) commits an offence. Maximum penalty: for a natural person, 50 000 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment or both. for a body corporate, 100 000 penalty units or 3 ears imprisonment or both. 5 Enforcement Provisions of this Regulations shall be enforced by: 609 (1) Environment Officers pursuant to the Environment Act 1998 (section 5); (2) Customs Officers pursuant to the Customs and Excise Act (Cap. 121) (section 2); (3) Police Officers of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force pursuant to the Police Act 2023 (section 3); (4) Enforcement Officers under the Honiara City Act 1999 (section 37); (5) Authorised Officers of the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority, pursuant to the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority Act 2018 (section 47); (6) Servants and agents in the Solomon Islands Ports Authority pursuant to the Ports Act (Cap. 161) (section 16). Made in Honiara this first-day of September 2023. HON. STANLEY FESTUS SOFU MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND METEOROLOGY Honiara, Solomon Islands Printed under the authority of the Solomon Islands Government Printed by Provincial Press