Sale of plastic straws, jablo cups and cotton buds prohibited in new year

Plastic straws, beverage stirrers, jablo cups and cotton buds cannot be sold any longer in the new year as Malta’s battle against single-use plastic enters its second stage.

Malta was among the first countries to prohibit the importation of various single-use products from 1 January 2021.

The ban will extend to the actual sale and distribution of these products in the new year. The legal notice banning the sale of several single-use plastic items was published on Christmas Eve and comes into effect on 24 February 2022.

The items affected by this law include plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, balloon sticks, jablo cups and beverage containers, beverage stirrers, and straws.

“This is being enacted as part of the government’s vision to strengthen the environment, tackle marine pollution and improve the quality of our biodiversity,” the Environment Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.