Egyptian MP Anissa Hassoun Calls For Nationwide Ban on Plastic

Addressing Egypt's Prime Minister and Environment Minister, MP Anissa Hassoun proposed a ban on plastic use in Egypt, calling for companies and citizens to switch to environmentally-friendly materials, as reported by local media.

Hassoun, known for her progressive stances on societal issues, said that Egypt consumes north of 12 billion plastic bags a year, which she said costs roughly EGP 12 billion, at EGP 1 per plastic bag. Aside from its environmental impact, Hassoun said that the plastic industry also negatively impacts Egypt's economy as most of its raw material is imported.Additionally, the MP said that disposing of plastic in a healthy way has not yet been adopted on a mass scale in Egypt, leading to often-unhealthy practices when it comes to ridding off plastic products, including simply throwing them away, noting that they could potentially take hundreds of years to decompose, or burning them, which releases incredibly harmful and poisonous gases into the atmosphere.

Hassoun said that alternatives to plastic exist in the market, calling for a nationwide initiative to adopt such alternatives may they be paper bags or other environmentally-friendly material.