The Haitian government banned the import, production, and sale of black PE (polystyrene) plastic bags and expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) containers starting October 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe stated through the Miami Herald, \"This is a reasonable and logical decision. Importing and manufacturing biodegradable materials will benefit Haiti's short-, medium-, and long-term environmental interests.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haitian President Michel Martelly issued a ban on plastics in August in hopes of solving the problem of plastic waste on the streets and canals of the capital, Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ban initially caused public misunderstanding, with some believing that plastic bags for drinking water were also banned, leading to protests. The government later clarified through advertising that plastic bags for drinking water were not included, and the protests ceased. However, it is likely that PE cups and plates imported from neighboring Dominican Republic will be difficult to completely ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haitian environmentalists have expressed their approval of the government's move, but they also worry that the government will be unable to effectively enforce the ban. Sam Bloch, a member of Haiti Communitere, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the living environment, said he hopes the government will have follow-up plans in case the ban does not go smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Haitian community in Port-au-Prince is currently working on an \"Ubuntublox project\" to build homes using Ubuntublox, plastic blocks made from recycled plastic. This project aims to address two issues: cleaning up plastic waste on the streets and using earthquake-resistant materials to rebuild the earthquake-prone city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These plastic blocks were invented by Harvey Lacey from Texas, USA. The Haitian community approved the project in October 2011, and it is currently being implemented by two volunteers from Canada, Tim Overton and Roxanne Duigou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ubuntublox team collects polystyrene food containers and plastic films from street cleaning stations and recycling centers, repurposing these materials retrieved from the canals and channels of Port-au-Prince as building materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They filled rice bags with plastic material and compressed it into uniformly sized blocks using a manual compressor. Ubuntublox is lightweight and resilient, making it more earthquake-resistant than regular bricks or concrete blocks. Recently, an Ubuntublox house model passed a simulated magnitude 8.2 earthquake test with minimal damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, the Haitian community, with the help of 20 women from the neighboring community of Cite Soleil, built an Ubuntublox house that is resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes. The house was constructed using plastic bags and thousands of polystyrene containers recycled from a nearby canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June of this year, the \"Haiti Community\" announced that it was building a factory to produce plastic blocks from discarded plastic bags and polystyrene containers. Bloch stated, \"Our goal is to build more houses made of plastic blocks for Haiti.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Lamont stated that the plastic ban is intended to protect Haiti's coastline, shoreline, and existing mangrove forests. He hopes the ban will effectively eliminate the country's piles of garbage. He told reporters that toxic substances clog 95% of Haiti's sewage treatment system and cause widespread flooding in impoverished communities. This garbage costs Haiti more than $50 million annually, therefore it needs to be handled with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n