Luxor4u

Egypt's Red Sea Governorate is to introduce a ban on single-use plastics that are destroying marine life, the province's top official said Wednesday.

The ban, set to take effect in June, covers items including disposable plastic bags, cutlery and cups, and aims to protect the area's unique sea life, governor Ahmed Abdallah said.

"We want to limit this phenomenon to preserve our maritime environment," he told AFP.

The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastic annually, and scientists estimate there are at least five trillion pieces of the stuff floating in our oceans.

Egypt's Red Sea province depends heavily on income from tourists, many of whom come to snorkel and scuba dive among its spectacular reefs.
The Red Sea's unique coral reefs are threatened by ocean plastic

The vulnerable shallow-water ecosystems are under threat by both global warming and plastic pollution.

Abdallah said businesses and families in the province will be required to replace plastic with paper and reusable bags.

Heba Shawky, head of the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association which campaigned for the ban, said it was "a huge step forward, because plastic bags cause a lot of damage."

The Egyptian decision comes after countries agreed at a UN conference in March to "significantly reduce" use of single-use plastics, but failed to agree on a full ban, disappointing environmental campaigners.

Sources close to the talks said rich nations, led by the US, were influential in watering down the pledge.

Egypt's Red Sea province had mulled a ban of single-use plastics prior to the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak, but the ensuing political turmoil put those plans on hold.

That's some good news anyway, a round of applause is in order..

Now, if they can have a word with the bird who sells me my morning cup of coffee and stop her putting a plastic lid on it, which I immediately remove and throw in the bin that is 6 feet away from the counter.. That would be nice.

While I am not exactly a paid up subscriber to this global warming / climate change ( tax generating ) malarkey, I am all for irradiating waste and pollution wherever possible.

Where's that coffee... ? and the emoticons ?

Why not take your own 'keep-cup' with your name, that's what many do here. Or just say as you order or as that begin to give it to you "No lid, please".

I travel light at all times, no space for Keep Cups I am afraid Winged Isis.
Despite my protestations, they put the lid on for health and safety reasons, so I dont sue them if I spill the coffee all over myself, because they must assume that I am at the tender age of 57 still having to master the art of carrying a cup.
problem is, I am more likely to spill the coffee trying to get the bloody lid off.

It will be nice to see the demise of plastic cutlery, stirrers and other plastic disposable items. So congratulations to the Red Sea Governorate for taking the initiative.

I do however think that plastic bags are a great invention and still useful and very practical.
Notice how they tax those in the UK , but not the useless plastic lids and stirrers..
Typical government, demonise something that is popular and or necessary and tax it... Damn those snowflakes that fall for that trick...

Anyhow, Coffee consumed ( Large Latte with a cheeky little espresso thrown in on top ) I realised you need to invoke the FULL editor to get the emoticons...

This sounds to me like a no-brainer and yet it's still very rare for this ban to actually happen somewhere. More power to the Governor.

Well......the Red Sea governorate banned plastic bags about 5 years ago.....at least in the big shops.

It lasted about a month before they reappeared in the supermarkets.

Frankly, the Egyptian attitude to such matters is unlikely to bode well for this initiative.

Still the staff on the boats are dumping rubbish into The Nile. It's disgraceful. Once it was a beautiful river now its so polluted like The Ganges.