Prohibit plastic sorbets in the city of Buenos Aires

In line with the global campaign to reduce the use of disposable plastics (for single use), the city of Buenos Aires is saying goodbye to sherbets. Its use will be prohibited progressively. Tomorrow, with the publication of a resolution in the Official Journal, it will no longer be possible to offer or place this article in the view of customers; then, in six months, your sale will be completely prohibited. According to official estimates, two million sherbets a month are consumed only in the patios of food stores located in different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. The rejection of these items is equivalent to 1.7 tons of plastic.

The standard, signed in a resolution by the Minister of the Environment and Public Spaces, Eduardo Macchiavelli, affects four- and five-star hotels, shops, galleries and open-air shopping centers, with more than three hundred persons events and establishments belonging to commercial chains (having more than five establishments identified under the same commercial brand, regardless of their individual branch or franchise status).

Sorbets will also be banned in dance halls and shops where they serve and / or sell sweets, food and / or drinks; stores that produce and / or sell food products for immediate sale; stores that sell and / or divide food products; and stores where food is served or sold, premises for the sale of packaged treats. The resolution, meanwhile, does not reach the containers of juice and milk accompanied by small sorbets.

"This is a step towards reducing the use of single-use plastics, which have a huge impact on the environment." Since the city, we have joined forces to promote and ensure the reduction of sorbets, as we did with the bags, "he said the official.

In Argentina, the city of Pinamar has been a pioneer in taking a similar step implemented during the last summer season. Tourists had to get used to receiving their drinks without sherbet or with a cardboard replica. Ostend businessman and volunteer chairman of Big Human Wave (the Argentine foundation that fights for the care of the beaches), Gastón Caminata, was one of the
Boosters of the idea of ​​the Change.org platform. During a personal experience, Caminata has collected more than 500 sorbets just 100 meters from Pinamar Beach.

It is then the turn of the municipality of General Pueyrredón to join a
similar initiative. A month ago, the local mayor, Carlos Fernando Arroyo, signed a decree banning the use of sorbets and any other type of crockery or cutlery made from non-recyclable materials along the district's coast, including the city of Mar del Plata.

Currently, a 15-year-old is the one who, under the reflexion "I choose to ban plastic sherbets, and you, what do you choose?", Collect the signatures of Change.org so that one National law that prohibits the use and marketing of this type of plastic ampoules. A similar claim is made on the platform "Let's echo", created by the organization of Greenpeace to allow interested parties to generate petitions on the respect of the environment and the environment. ;ecology.

Sergio Hilbrecht, director of the Chamber of the Plastic Industry of Argentina (CAIP) – where about sixty small and medium-sized companies across the country manufacture single-use plastic containers – was dissatisfied with this measure. "Instead of banning sorbets, the city should have a good solid waste management plan and post-consumer education, which could be turned into other longer-lasting products." life, "he told La Nación. Hilbrecht said the sorbets are made from polyethylene that, like soda lids, could be processed and recycled. "And they do not pollute, they are allowed to come in contact with food," he added.

campaigns

Social networks play an important role in this global movement. By
#mejorsinsorbete campaign, different bars and companies have begun to spread the message of replacing traditional items with more entertaining alternatives. Although they seem insignificant, sorbets are a big problem for the environment: they usually use a few minutes and can take between 150 and 400 years to decompose.

The main goal is to reduce the use of disposable plastics which, among other things, significantly contaminate large rivers – about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the ocean every year. Sorbets are the fourth most common pollutant that affects the coast and water. Upon disintegration, so-called microplastic particles are generated and ingested by the aquatic fauna, which bioaccumulates and amplifies them in the food chain.

According to the latest census of coastal litter carried out in 2018 by the Wildlife Foundation and other environmental organizations, 82% of inorganic waste found on the beaches of Argentina corresponded to plastic waste. The detected ones were: plastic bags, cigarette butts, plastic remains, nylon remnants, capsules and plastic bottles, among others. The census was conducted on 813,554 square meters of beach in 16 localities of the coast of Buenos Aires, including Bahía Blanca, Claromecó, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Punta Lara, San Clemente, Santa Teresita and Villa Gesell.