The government has postponed the date that plastic water bottles of 1 litre or less will be prohibited from import and manufacture in the Maldives.
The decision was made after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu issued a decree announcing the revised list of Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) detrimental to the environment. The decree identifies 14 specific SUP items — which include plastic items and those manufactured with plastic — as harmful to the environment, and outlines the dates on which their import, manufacture, and sale will be prohibited.
Upon issuance of the Presidential Decree, the date for the prohibition of import, production and sale of the 13th item on the 14-item list has been modified. With this update, plastic water bottles of 1 liter or less will be prohibited from import and manufacture in the Maldives starting from August 1, 2024. Subsequently, these items will be banned from the market starting November 1, 2024.
With this Decree, the President has repealed the previous regulations defining environmentally harmful SUPs and governing their manufacture, import, and marketing in the Maldives.