Solymos: Slovakia Is Leader among V4 Countries in Fight against Plastics

Tatranska Lomnica, June 12 (TASR) - At their meeting in Tatranska Lomnica (Presov region), environment ministry representatives from the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), Romania and Bulgaria discussed topics such as supporting biodiversity, nature conservation as well as the fight against disposable plastics, with Slovak Environment Minister Laszlo Solymos (Most-Hid) stating after the meeting that Slovakia is the leader of the group in the fight against plastics thanks to two prepared amendments, TASR learnt on Wednesday. "The main topic of the negotiations was the fight against the formation of plastic waste and the obligation to introduce a ban on deploying single-use plastic products on the market. EU member states are obliged to carry out this task based on the directive on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products. EU countries must do so within two years from the effectiveness of the above-mentioned European directive, that is by summer 2021 at the latest," pointed out Solymos at a briefing. The minister added that the Slovak Environment Ministry is currently in the process of getting a big amendment to the Waste Act accepted by Parliament. It will ban the introduction to the Slovak market of disposable plastic products, such as disposable plastic cutlery, plates, stirrers and straws. After it receives approval from the Slovak Government, the anti-plastic measure should come into force on January 1, 2021. The ministry will do so six months before the EU imposes this obligation on all member states. "In the fight against waste, Slovakia is catching up with the advanced European countries. This is twice as true for plastics. So I'm glad that we're managing to be leaders of changes for the better in our region. And I firmly believe that V4 countries will follow us," pointed out Solymos. am/mcs