Georgia: A working meeting with plastic bag manufacturers and importers was held at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture on February 13, 2025, Thursday. The meeting was attended by Deputy Ministers Solomon Pavliashvili and Kakha Kakabadze.
The Environmental Supervision Department shared glimpses of the meeting on its official Facebook page on February 13, 2025. The Ministry also shared the details about the meeting along with the photographs.
It is worth noting that, at the meeting, the issues of implementation of regulations related to the production and realization of plastic bags and the importance of coordinated cooperation with representatives of the business sector were discussed.
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Solomon Pavliashvili spoke about the regulations related to the production and sale of plastic bags and emphasized that it is already possible to conduct studies in Georgia to determine the degree of plastic degradation and metals in plastic materials. The Minister also mentioned it on its official Facebook page.
Notably, it is now possible to conduct research in Georgia to assess the degradation levels of plastic and determine the presence of metals in plastic materials. With state support, a modern, standards-compliant laboratory has been established, where research is conducted using accredited methodologies.
It is noteworthy that the Polymer Testing Laboratory of the State Laboratory of Agriculture was accredited in 2024 for studies on the determination of the decomposition of plastic material into micro-fragments in plastic and biodegradable bags and the determination of metals (zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium, molybdenum, selenium, arsenic) in plastic materials.
At a meeting held at the Ministry, Kakha Kakabadze spoke about the priority of coordinated cooperation with representatives of the business sector.
According to the information shared by the Ministry, it should be noted that the government will begin monitoring compliance with regulations governing plastic and biodegradable bags in April to ensure adherence to environmental standards.
Participants of the meeting are mentioned below:
- Representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia,
- The State Laboratory of Agriculture,
- The Department of Environmental Supervision attended the meeting.