Break Free from Plastic Croatia calls on the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to urgently adopt the act on packaging, packaging waste and single-use plastics and adopt ambitious provisions to end their excessive production and consumption!
"We ask that the Ministry set the direction in which we as a society will behave responsibly towards the consumption of limited Earth's resources, especially in the age of the climate crisis, and to put an end to the throwaway culture", said Ana-Marija Mileusnić from Zelena akcija / FoE Croatia.
This was the message from a performance at Zagreb Central Station, which Break Free from Plastic Croatia organised as part of the "Plastic Free July" campaign, and on the occasion of the International Plastic Bag Free Day. They put up a sign with the messages "It concerns us all" and "Goodbye to throwaway culture" and symbolically portrayed the capture of all members of our society by plastic.
"At the performance, people of different origins, profiles and ages, wrapped in plastic packaging and plastic bags, symbolised a dystopian, but at the same time very realistic scenario", Mileusnić explained. Namely, the Ministry continues with a lack of ambition, is behind in adopting regulations and does not implement existing legal regulations. "We also wanted to show how the problem of plastic pollution affects all of us, although some people are more affected than others", Mileusnić added.
The problem of plastic pollution has several components. One is undoubtedly the need for more ambitious legal requirements and measures to reduce waste. "The government allows the industry to produce and distribute such products excessively", Mileusnić commented. The second part is the greed of the fossil fuel and plastic industries which pressure governments to continue accumulating profits, while the third refers to a desensitised consumer society resulting from unsustainable policies, despite the noticeable will of individuals.
"Although individual will is highly admirable, for the solution of this global problem, it is simply not enough for a small number of motivated people to use reusable alternatives, while single-use plastic and other single-use items and packaging continue to be produced at an unsustainable pace", said Dragica Mateković Rubić from the Association of Independent media culture.
Civil society organisations in Croatia have been warning the Ministry for years that a systematic solution that does not encourage throwaway culture is necessary. "However, their lack of vision, yielding to industry pressures and delays in regulations indicate a realistic vision of the future in which we will truly begin to suffocate in plastic", Mateković Rubić said.
Break Free From Plastic Croatia invites the public, including retailers and restaurateurs, to join the "Plastic Free July" campaign. "We must turn to reuse in order to stop plastic pollution together", Mateković Rubić concluded.
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